Non-traditional Holiday Gifts
People often look for something different to give as holiday gifts. Blooming plants are always a great idea, either on their own or included in a gift basket. Cyclamen, paperwhites and amaryllis make lovely holiday gifts and offer something different from the traditional poinsettia. Giving these plants while they are in flower makes the most impact, but they can also be given as bulbs to your gardening friends to have the satisfaction of growing them on their own. Be sure to buy a few extra blooming plants for your own holiday décor!
Winter Container Gardens: Live vs. Cut
Since most gardens are not in their prime from November through February, adding colorful accents to steps, porches and pathways with winter container gardens is a way to bring interest closer to the home. While you can buy planted winter gardens ready to go, sometimes it’s good for folks to get creative and assemble their own containers to show off their personal style. The first step is to decide if you’d like to work with live plants or cut branches.
Live container gardens can include, but are certainly not limited to: ornamental grasses, small conifers such as Alberta spruce, heather, wintergreen and pansies. Use the concept of “thrillers, fillers and spillers” when creating a container display. Leave some room for the plants to fill in – both at the top of the pot and in the soil below for the roots. Creating living containers can be a very artistic outlet – like choosing plants for their foliage textures and colors and how they contrast or blend with the colors of pansies or the red wintergreen berries.
Containers using fresh cut plant material can easily last the entire winter season and creating them can be fun, spontaneous and whimsical. Options of what to include are numerous: fresh cut evergreen boughs, red- or yellow-stemmed dogwood and stems or branches from willow, birch or other trees with attractive bark. While all of these materials can be purchased, the best part is adding in finds from your own garden, such as an empty bird’s nest, or a fallen branch with the cones or fall color still on it.
As a final touch for both types of containers, adding ornaments and/or twinkle lights can really make your creations shine – especially on dark days and early nights!
Living Christmas Trees
Living Christmas trees can be a focal point in your home, and in your garden, for years to come. When brought inside, place your tree in a water-tight container like a decorative tub or pail. Water your tree thoroughly and keep the root ball moist during the entire time it’s inside. Care should be taken when decorating – small, cool “twinkle lights” are recommended. For the health of the tree, it shouldn’t be inside for more than 5 to 7 days.
