It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

In spite of 20 degree weather, members of the Tweed and District Horticultural Society were definitely in the Christmas spirit as they listened to Conrad Grol ‘s talk about creating winter planters at the November meeting. Conrad, former owner of Brighton Greenhouse gave many tips about making planters to decorate our homes for the holiday season.

Rural areas like Tweed offer a wealth of greenery…Conrad cautioned about asking property owners permission before cutting branches from trees and bushes.

This year Conrad used silver pails as the base for his planters. Place sand on the bottom, add a piece of dry foam (wet foam will disintegrate) and top with more sand and fill to the top of the pail. If the planter is going to be stationary, the dry foam can be omitted.

Greenery used….spruce, cedar, red pine, Austrian pine, scotch pine and jack pine…or whatever you can find! Look for foliage with no brown spots. Birch “logs” can be used as a focal point in a planter.

Different coloured dogwood, thistles, ferns, cat tails, sedum, sumac seed pods, milk weed pods and pine cones can all be used to add texture and interest to the planter. If these accent pieces are too short, simply attach them to a skewer with florist tape and insert into the foam or sand. This will also provide a variety of heights within the planter.

If you prefer more “bling” in the planter, Conrad suggested spray painting the dogwood, thistles etc. Pine cones can be wired together in groups of 2-3 to form a cluster and wired onto the greenery. Bows can also be wired on to the greenery or the handle to add more colour.

The greenery in planters will last during the holiday season; however if you are making a small planter for indoors, Conrad suggested spraying with “Wilt Proof” to prevent the foliage from drying out. This product is also recommended for garlands and wreathes.

According to Conrad, these beautiful planters will certainly welcome family and friends to your home during the Christmas season!

COMING UP….

November 15…Volunteer hours for December, 2014-November, 2015 are to be submitted to Jean Clark. Email hours to info@tweedhort.ca or  leave hours at the Library.

November 28…Children’s Program at Tweed Library…!0:30-12:30….making Christmas decorations. Please register at the Library.

December 1 @ 6 pm…Christmas Potluck….bring your favourite pot luck dish to share. Don’t forget your plates, utensils and wine glass!!!

Bring quarters to play “Quarter Frenzy”!

December 11 @12 noon….Christmas Luncheon at Club 213, Loyalist College.