Decorating From Your Garden

Beautiful Natural Arrangements

Natural arrangements made from interesting dried flowers, seed pods, berries, and foliage harvested from your garden can bring beauty to your home, both inside and out.

You don’t have to be a professional flower arranger to create these lovely fall and winter displays, just a creative imagination. Take your shears on a stroll through your flower beds in the waning days of summer or fall and start clipping and collecting. The flowers of many perennials and shrubs dry naturally right on the plant and can be cut and used in beautiful, long-lasting arrangements allowing you to enjoy your garden’s beauty well into winter.

In addition to flowers, look for other interesting colors, shapes, and textures in and around your landscape. Dried seed pods from oriental poppies, Siberian iris, peonies, and yucca make wonderful additions to a fall and winter display. Even daylily seed pods or their dried flower scapes are neat!

Petals from flowers and brightly colored leaves, along with pine cones and gourds can be sprinkled around the base of your arrangements for a touch of whimsy!

Berried deciduous shrubs like Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and Beautyberry (Callicarpa) have branches covered with long-lasting colorful berries that are excellent in your seasonal arrangements.

Nestle your garden gleanings into attractive baskets, vases, buckets, and barrels. There is no limit to what you can do with a good imagination and some garden leftovers!

Watch Mark's video tips on decorating with fresh greens at holiday time.