It’s the dead of winter and the shade trees stand gray and bare. The only new green emerging is on the glorious hellebores a.k.a. Lenton Roses. Here in Tennessee there is still plenty to forage to create characteristically winter designs. Here are some images for inspiration on what you can forage and buy to warm up your home on these cold days.
Here you can see my favorite flower, Lenton Rose, which you may find blooming in your own yard. The green base is made of cypress, boxwood, and holly berry (trimmed of some leaves when needed) as well as dried seeded Eucalyptus brightened up with a can go Gold spray paint. Why not use fruit, especially gorgeous pomegranate in the dead of winter? Flowers purchased from the wholesaler include quicksand roses and scabiousa.
Here are apples and oranges mixed in with foraged juniper berries, nandina (a winter favorite, especially the berries), magnolia and loves of roses, lisianthus and berries from the wholesaler (and usually at the grocery store too).
Don’t just toss out that poinsettia when it starts looking sad. It makes a great cut flower. It does release a sap, so ideally, they will drink from a separate cup of water before arranging with other flowers (just like a daffodil). A little pot of gold leaf paint amped up this vase as well as added some shimmer and shine to dried seed eucalyptus and tiny hemlock cones. I think the magnolia may be the star of the show here though.
When that huge Amaryllis starts to fall over or only a few blooms are left, use it with a cut flower. Green and White Parrot tulips are some of my favorite Christmas flowers too!
Here’s a time lapse showing a base of foraged winter greens including branches of Carolina Cherry Laurel, White Pine, Juniper, and Holly with mini green hydrangea, spray roses andAmaryllis, I love growing several amaryllis bulbs in my home each advent season because it is such.a joy to watch them grow and then open into gorgeous blooms. When a few start to fade or they get too tall to stand on their own they make the loveliest large cut flower as shown here.
Can you tell I love Christmas evergreens? This step in the arrangement show the green base of magnolia, curly pine, and cypress branches with Amaryllis inserted early on in the design to make sure they were secure in the chickenwire and fully in water. To see the other steps go to https://flowermag.com/home-for-christmas-k-wakefield-designs/
Greenery and Green grapes will alway shine:
Christmas green and white with place cards made by my 9 year old :)
And if I can get my hands on juniper berries, score! They were my favorite feature in a January wedding I did earlier this year. I hope these photos from December and January inspire you to create beautiful floral designs even when it seem the whole world has frozen and browned. Keep your eyes open for the beauty this season holds.