Thanksgiving Table Decorated From the Garden
I’m always floored by how expensive prefab holiday centerpieces can be. A couple of pieces of faded holly or pine with a a red candle just doesn’t fancy-up the holiday table the way our own gardens and creativity can. In my horticultural-eyes these arrangements just look sad and dull. In the Pacific Northwest we have so many beautiful options for decorating our tables as well as making fresh-cut swags and wreaths.
When our house is full of family for the holidays, we’re always looking for something more than football and shopping to entertain the family. Taking a walk through the garden with clippers in hand, starts the family fun project of decorating the table for special dinners. Family members are usually amazed to find that the garden does offer a wide array of plants that create fantastic arrangements at no cost to anyone.
Following are some of my favorite plants to clip in November and December to create beautiful arrangements:
Basic needle evergreens for the base of a wreath, swag or centerpiece (watch for sticky sap):
- Western Red Cedar
- Cypress
- Pine
- Juniper
- Douglas Fir
- True Fir
- Rosemary
Colorful Nandina Leaves & Berries
Branches and broad leaves to layer over your green base or scatter through the middle of your table with mixed candles or colorful bits of glass:
- Red & Yellow Twig dogwood branches
- Birch branches add bright white
- Nandina
- Cotoneaster
- Pink, Purple-grey or yellow Willow branches
- Leucothoe sprigs
- Mahonia
- Ivy — what better excuse to pull it and what better use for the weed?
- Red Vine Maple branches
- Liquidamber, Oak, Sumac and Parrotia leaves
- Carex sprigs
- New Zealand Flax
- Hebe
- Euphorbia: watch the burning sap. Burn the ends with flame to seal before you arrange these cuttings.
- Holly (**for Holly you will need a Holly Dip preservation)
Kent Beauty Oregano Visited By Honeybee
Great choices for a fragrant kitchen arrangement that can be dried or used as a bouquet garni later:
- Thyme
- Lavender stems — they may be out of bloom, but they still smell fantastic
- Rosemary — it may actually be blooming!
- Sage — from purples to yellow-greens, the options are beautiful
- Oregano
Berries and Flowers to add even more pop:
- Camellia sasanqua: This camellia blooms from November to February. Its delicate flowers look lovely floating in a bowl of water
- Nandina berries: Red or even yellow airy clusters of beautiful berries
- Cotoneaster: Bare stems or evergreens offer orange and yellow clusters of berries in fall
Parrotia Coloring Up in November
If you’re fortunate, you may still have a few of these options:
- Callicarpa: Metallic purple “beauty” berries
- Chrysanthemums: These fall bloomers are usually still kicking in fall
- Zinnia: Sometimes you’ll find a straggler pushing out a last late bloom in November if the frost hasn’t hit
- Cyclamen: Occassionally a tiny flower will hold on late. Use these for small bedside or bathroom arrangements.
I will confess that sometimes I’ll pick up an inexpensive bunch of mums or other seasonal flowers to augment my arrangements, but usually I stick with what’s in the garden. Have you found other late bloomers in your garden that work well for decorating? Please share them.
