Some problems have no solution. All we can do is to share the
pain and ease it a bit with laughter. For instance, whyizzit
that:
Why, oh why do we forget every year to delay pruning our
evergreens until late fall? If we had all those boxwood, spruce and
pine clippings now it would be a snap to copy some of the nifty
ideas we see while we're doing our holiday shopping.
Urn at right
A simple and classy composition in the city of Northville,
Michigan. Every bit of the contents home-growable to zone 4, save
one silk
poinsettia:
- Redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea) can be cut the the
ground every year. Perhaps best to cut it in early spring but at
least 1/3 the canes can harvested in fall from a well sited plant
without noticeable effect. (See Forum
discussion of cut back timing, beginning with
Caryopteris.) The straight red stems that center this
arrangement grew this tall in just one growing season.
- Golden willow (Salix alba vitellina 'Britzensis'). A
tree that can be coppiced regularly for canes
like this. In a home landscape, best to cut it annually or it will
go out of control. One year's growth of coppice wood can be
10'.
- Winterberry (
Ilex verticillata)
- Balsam fir (Abies spp.)
Low and easy
Fir, some pine boughs and a bit of redtwig dogwood to support
plastic ornaments.
Announcing you're a gardener
Force roses in warm water and sun so they open wide, thread them
into place on a wreath and hang it where it will stay cold. The
roses can last for weeks. As an alternative, use silk roses. (Gardenviews store, Northville,
MI.)
Tall and stately
Below, left: White birch or poplar branches hung with boxwood
balls, and fir at their feet.
Below, right and bottom: Twisted willow/Corkscrew willow
(Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa') with various ornamental kale
and squash bedded in juniper boughs and Douglas fir branches.
Both arrangements at Fleur Detroit in Bloomfield
Hills, MI.
