As I write this on December 1st, with a slight panic in my heart, I am thinking of what yet needs to be accomplished. Furiously we are creating outdoor containers for our clients as the season descends. As a landscape designer, the gardens' interest needs to be equally lovely, in a different way, during the winter season. One element we can add for instant winter gratification, is by adorning our outdoor containers; urns, window boxes and hanging baskets are all candidates. We offer a massive variety of boughs, sticks, berries and faux. If this is a new venture for you, or if you could use inspiration, let's look at some of the containers completed for our clients up to now Reminders........... * choose a variety of greens with varying textures and shapes * choose elements that blend with the colors of your home From the bottom up; silver fir, silver dollar eucalyptus, silver glittered vine balls, spruce, variegated oregano, skimmia, glittered birch stems All coordinates with the homes color ways Blue coned cedar, white tipped extra large pine cones, tallow berries, oregano, blue coned cedar, repeated The tallow berries up close. These are faux, a hard plastic that will last year after year. Real tallow berries are on short rigid stems that is difficult to work with, the faux have longer, pliable stems.....LOVE these! Against a white house, I recommend dark, rich colors. The addition of the white painted birch sticks ties everything together Take a look at the magnolia leaf, it adds textural contrast. A thought for you is this, "a large leafed specimen lends order". In these containers or in the ground, a large leaf eliminates a messy appearance with too many small leaves. This is a faux magnolia! The real ones fade and curl up quickly when exposed to cold. These remain "fresh" and pliable. Choose a good quality, variety with the brown reverse leaf A dark corner is embellished with white painted birch sticks To fill in the gap from the containers edge we have laid two boxwood wreaths One large, topped by a smaller size. Wreaths are a good choice for these type of containers; * low * the container has beautiful rim detailing that you do not want to conceal with draping boughs * classic and long lasting We use double wreaths in varying sizes is to add girth Such a classic urn and plinth can accommodate dramatic flourishes. Here we added a mixed evergreen garland that undulates, drapes around the container and tumbles down. I envisioned the side protruding garland to replicate urn handles. The garland is wired to the tower of red twig dogwood The choice here was to keep the wire obelisks, that supports Mandevilla in the summer, in place with a mixed garland wending around the obelisk. The towering height and massiveness of this home calls for a large arrangement to balance the scale. Anytime you spy red berries in any of our compositions, they are faux. The ever popular winterberry is expensive and turns black with the onset of cold. All of mine are again, hard plastic for multiple years re-use At the top of the obelisk I made a small swag for the peak; long needle pine, german boxwood (longer stems), silver dollar eucalyptus and pheasant feathers Wouldn't this be a lovely composition for the back of dining chairs, tied with a satin ribbon? Every day we have been outdoors has been bitter cold and sunny, the latter makes for poor photographs.....sorry for that! Wilt-Stop or Wilt-Pruf are 'anti-dessicants', that is, they aid in retaining moisture for evergreens in the ground or for cut boughs. Our final step is a good drenching.........I highly recommend this step for prolonged beauty. Incense cedar (yellow seeds at it's ends), juniper, long needled pine, silver bell eucalyptus and red huck which is similar to boxwood but has red stems with red/caramel/green leaves. The silver belled eucalyptus add an interesting texture, lovely drape and a blue/white coloration. May I recommend these remain outdoors? Once indoors and once the drying process begins, a pungent scent of cat urine takes hold......a horrible surprise if entertaining! Another beautiful rimmed container that should be seen, necessitates this up facing design Spruce, inserted upwards facing, Oregano and faux Berries Taking a cue from the home's elements we chose red twig dogwood; see the outdoor pillow on the porch chaise? Gold outdoor ornaments; a color in the pillow, and brown outdoor ornaments to blend with the dark brown exposed timbers Next week, a colonial Williamsburg design with an abundance of faux fruit, rustic charm for an extensive farm setting............ Cheers! Debra