American Plant Christmas Greens

We waited long enough. I usually like to do Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. But since we weren’t home it dragged out until yesterday. We no longer put up a tree, but I do like to dress up the outside balcony baskets and also add some greens inside. So after our morning walk in the park we drove over to American Plant in Bethesda. When we lived on Capitol Hill we went there because they have such a great selection of Christmas cheer. But first we had to walk by the trees - they were the perfect size. The wooden Santa’s were really cute and the huge red bows were simply lovely. We passed by the mistletoe and the red berry branches. The hand made decorations were all so beautiful! I don’t know all of the names for the different greens but we always pick out a variety of branch types - especially the ones with blue berries. They always look so nice in the huge vase we keep in the dining room. Add a bit of red berries, pine cones, and a little bird and it looks so seasonal. We also found a really cool flower - protea pink mink. Tucking it in with the greens adds a bit of additional whimsy. I like to mix up the fake berries and pine cones with the real stuff. What I miss most is the smell of the evergreens that you don’t get with just the branches. So we got just enough stuff to look like Christmas in our house. It’s a nice time of the year. 

Preparing the Balcony for Winter

It’s that time of year again. It’s getting to be too cold to sit out on the balcony. That means we need to bring in the cushions. We used to cover the seating with tarp like material. But for the last two years there have been decorative coco lined window box containers hanging on the backs of the chairs - so the covers don’t fit. Usually the loveseat and chair sit across from each other. But now we turn the chairs to face out so that the window boxes face our living room. That way, we can see whatever is in the baskets from inside of the house. Last year we ordered some liriope, ivy and violas to plant from Ginkgo Gardens in DC. The liriope and ivy survived the summer season, and we got a few winter pansies to replace the annuals. I think I prefer the violas to pansies because they have more flowers. But the best part about this floral arrangement is when Christmas gets a little closer. We always like to dress the boxes with Christmas greenery, sticks, and some decorations that are suitable for outside. Last year we were stuck at home for obvious reasons. This year we are hoping to make a family trip to central Virginia. So I’ll probably just put up decorations outdoors. So as long as we are able to see the “garden” from the living room it will be just fine and is really all we need. 

Using Greens in Vases

We have a few vases in the house that I like to keep filled with flowers. There is a double wall vase, a small dining room table vase, and another one on my bedside stand. Usually we get flowers at the grocery store when we do our shopping on Saturday after breakfast. Some of the flowers last a couple of weeks while others hardly go a few days. What I really like is to have a variation of greens and twigs to mix it up. Having just flowers is not good enough. Now that we have a few house plants I’ll even throw in a couple snips to see if they will root. When we had our little Capitol Hill patio garden, I could swipe a few greens and twigs from the bushes, hydrangeas and myrtles. But now we only have a balcony at our new Virginia condo with nothing to steal from. When we lived in the Midwest I would use a saw to cut branches for garland and decor to stuff wondowboxes and large vases for Christmas. So I found a nice bunch of greenery and twigs at Giant two weeks ago so all I needed last weekend was a small bunch of flowers. I really didn’t need the whole bunch but tried to separate them out and divide them up among the three main vases. It’s funny how the greens can stand alone. Maybe next week I’ll let them do just that. 

Harris Teeter Flowers and Garden Greens for Wall Vase

As is our usual routine we went for a very crowded breakfast at McLean Family Restaursnt followed by grocery shopping. With the threat of a snow storm this afternoon, we also stopped for gas and headed to Harris Teeter. It was much busier than usual - not surprising when the forecast scares the crap out of everyone. The flowers in our wall vase were fading so we decided it was time to refresh them. We even assisted a guy there who asked if we could help him select a bouquet to have in his house to make it pretty during the storm. I then picked up two small bunches of carnations and tulips. Because I like greens in the mix I clipped a few leaves and such from our tiny patio garden when we got home. They help to fill in the dead spaces and keep the flowers in place. Unfortunately I didn’t have any sticks or branches to use - they always add a bit of character and charm. After cutting back both the very long carnation stems and the extra tulip leaves I recycled both of them. That added even more volume and texture to the mix. I really like my wall vase because it’s an easy way to display flowers or seasonal greens and decor without cluttering up table space. And they last several days. And it will be nice to have flowers the house during a snow storm. 

Grown to Last Mixed Greens Bouquet Replaces Flowers

We always used to get a small bouquet of flowers to put on the kitchen island when we lived in the Midwest. It just looked pretty. After all, who doesn't love flowers? We don't have a kitchen island in our tiny space in DC. But we have a really nice wall vase - actually it has two levels. At Christmas time I fill it with traditional Christmassy decor to make it look and feel like a tiny tree with lights. During the summer months, if our tiny patio garden has something worth clipping and displaying, I'll use them. A couple weeks ago I had a bunch of hydrangea that looked marvelous! But sometimes the unusual can work as well. Rather than just flowers, we decided to get some longer lasting greens that do the trick. So while at the grocery store this afternoon we found a mixed green bouquet, brought it home, cut it up, and stuck the branches in each vase. The thing about any bouquet is to cut it down to size and play with it until it looks right. I suppose you could say this is my creative side at work, with a lot of encouragement from my husband who has great taste in most things! He usually knows what will look good - I just need to arrange it!