Each December for the festive holidays, I fill an old wooden bucket on the front porch. I usually start in November with a harvest look of dried ‘Annebelle’ hydrangea flower heads and curly seed heads of willow herb (Epilobium ciliatum). Later, I add Christmasy greens from Japanese holly (Ilex × meserveae) and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), as well as white painted branches and finished with a bow and a little gnome for whimsy.
Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts the weekly meme In A Vase On Monday, an addictive meme connecting flower lovers and gardeners all over the globe. Each week, she invites us to share arrangements made from our gardens. (Click the link to join the fun or see what others are sharing this week.)
Eliza Waters 
That’s a great idea, Eliza. Using local plant material and items you already have on hand is way better than buying plastic greenery.
Thanks, Audrey. Horrors! No plastic greenery in this house, lol! 😀 With all the wild available to hand, I’d be nuts to buy artificial. (Perhaps I’m a bit of a plant snob? 😉 )
Plant snobs are OK. 😀
🙂
Yes! Fellow plant snob here! And furthermore, living in Hawaii? I just can’t bear to bring anything indoors, when the message is clear from the plants that they would rather be outdoors! 😝💕
If my climate allowed it, I’d be outside right now, too! 😀
I am certain you would! 😉♥️
Very christmasy outcome! I love how you reuse materials at hand. Truly wonderful!
Thank you, Maria. Foraging is almost as fun as making the arrangement. 🙂
Since it is mostly dried material, does it last all winter? Do you eventually pluck out and replace some of the green material?
Yes, the dried stays all winter and the greenery should last through Dec. As the greens wither, I’ll pick them out.
It’s still celebrating a lovely time Eliza 🤗❤️🙏
Thanks, Mark!
That is lovely to have something welcoming at the front door even in winter. I had to search for the gnome hiding in there. Cute! My sister calls these little gnomes ‘gonks’, which is apparently the word used in the UK for them, and I think suits them perfectly! It was lovely to ‘meet’ you yesterday Eliza! 😁
Thank you, Cathy, ditto! It was great to see the faces behind blogs I’ve followed for many years. 🙂
Hydrangeas are wonderful even when they’re dead
Agreed, they keep their form beautifully!
Wonderful! You manage to make browns look festive. 😊
Thank you, Pepper!
Beautiful. I agree that you make browns and grays look festive. I get so tired of them by February and March and revel in the return of green, but your bucket of winter plans/things is lovely.
Thank you, Debra. The hydrangea makes a great medium for holding everything in place. 🙂
We make arrangements of hydrangea as well. I love the curly strands of willowherb, and the was the seeds nest in the expanding pods.
Thanks, Tom. Willowherb is spreading madly in the field, but I still find the summer pink flowers cute and the curly sprung tops in fall very decorative.
As I was reading through the names of plants you’d used in your arrangement, it occurred to me they comprise one of the best ‘bucket lists’ in the world!
Ha, funny, Linda. 🙂 I like scrounging around the yard trying to find things to put in. Both holly and mountain laurel are abundant thankfully.
Oh, this is just perfect, Eliza! Love it.
Thanks much, Dale!
With much pleasure!
Festive and lovely. Well done!
Thank you, Monika!
Beautiful 🤩
Thank you, Susan!
Love it!
Thank you, Sandy!
That’s a lovely testimonial to the season, Eliza! I’m having a hard time getting into the holiday mood but I’m trying.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Kris. Snow and cold weather helps set the mood for us. ☃️ We’re forecast to get 8″ tomorrow, somewhat early for a storm that big. Since the temps are due to drop to single digits thereafter, my garden will be happier under a protective blanket of snow.
Cute-n-cheery!
Thank you, Tina!
What a great idea.
Thank you!
What a welcoming sight 😊. So pretty!
Thank you, Belinda!
Your December porch display sounds absolutely magical! I can almost picture the textures, colors, and whimsical gnome bringing the arrangement to life. Truly, your creativity turns simple greens and branches into a heartwarming holiday story!
Thank you very much. It makes for a cheerful entry!
What a beautiful bucket full of nature 😍
https://christyscreativecorner5.wordpress.com/
Thank you, Christy!
That’s lovely. Great use of what is available to you. Since my life change to this apartment from formerly living in a house with a yard, I’ve tried to compensate by having houseplants. I keep some potted vegetables and flowers outside in the warmer weather, but I do miss the planting in the ground I used to do. I’ve also switched to an artificial Christmas tree for ease, but I really miss that wonderful smell of a real tree first brought into the house. The tree is my one allowance of an artificial plant. Even my new aquarium is real plants rather than artificial.
Thank you, K. There are times when artificial makes sense. Resource-wise, if they are used for 10-12 years, the energy used may be on par with fresh, however there still is the landfill issue. But with the amount of plastic in the marketplace, what the heck, go for it! 😀
Love the gnome and the seasonal ribbons! And the holly makes for a fun, festive bucket of garden pickings.
Thank you, Barbara. I have fun creating the outside Xmas decorations this time of year. 🎄
So creative…you still have lots of berries on your Holly!
Thanks, Alice. The birds go for the winterberry first, then the holly berries more in January for some reason.
That’s a lovely idea, Eliza, although it has reminded me I have not made a wreath for our front door yet – we had our very tall variegated holly cut down last year and although we have lots of green holly in the hedge, there are rarely any berries – hmm, I need to find an alternative…
Thank you, Cathy. It is a yearly ritual that gets me in the holiday mood, and a cheerful welcome at the front door. I hope you post what you create!
Yes, I will post it, if I manage to find the time to create it! When we had the variegated holly, it was a yearly ritual that I always achieved, but it doesn’t seem quite the same now…
I needed some inspiration to get going on the holiday decor. A yearly ritual is a good habit. I love the pumpkins. I dried some Lobsterclaw Heliconia!!
Thank you, Amy. Even though the pumpkins are more of a harvest season item, I figured that since they were still good, I’d keep them. I love the gray/green one especially.
What a lovely idea and you have an abundance to draw on.
Thank you, Flavia!
I love this maybe the garden club can do something like this it is so hard trying to keep rain out of our containers that would get destroyed but maybe a few old wooden barrels to place greens and dried flower heads into with berries and branches. Thank you. Have a wonderful day Eliza.
Yes, they hold up well for a couple of months at least. In November I start with the hydrangea heads and other dried weeds, etc. Then the Christmas decor is added after T-day. It works well!
I will see if we can pull this off.
I can never just chop down the hydrangea without saving some for a bucket. They are where we put snow, so we have to clear the space. Waste not, want not. 😉
I always leave mine up and covered with dried flowers.
A beautiful way to take these “ingredients” and repurpose them into a warm, welcoming Holiday sight. The white branches are a perfect touch. And, I am sure that gnome is living its best life!
🙂 Thanks, Bruce!