Deborah Silver is an accomplished and experienced landscape and garden designer whose firm first opened its doors in 1986.
winter containers with flame willow and bleached leaf stems
lacquered birch twigs and lavender eucalyptus
curly flame willow and aouthern magnolia stems
boxwood pyramid
stone mason’s Christmas gift to his wife
winter arrangement with mixed eucalyptus
holiday front door
red twig dogwood and Michigan holly
holiday packages wrapped by Jenny
I finally got back to check out and take pictures of the last of the holiday and winter work we did this season. Some time and the dispassionate light of day can reveal a detail not quite right, but by and large I was happy with what I saw. This contemporary version of the traditional red and green holiday is vividly colored. The tall thin steel topiary forms are strung with chartreuse and white lights, and chartreuse glass ornaments. I will have to go back at dusk to take more pictures.
Lots of red picks, and lots of oregonia makes for lots of pop. Their collection of Italian pots from Francesca del Re is beautiful.
A concrete pot at the corner of the garage features an elongated steel topiary form dressed in a swirl of similar lights and ornaments, a pair of red and chartreuse ornaments and chartreuse glitter picks. Sassy, this.
This creamy taupe house and front door gets quite a visual boost from these winter containers. That vivid splash of color is a great chaser for the winter blues.
I landscaped this newly renovated house last year. The window box centerpieces are a deliberate play on the form and color of the PJM rhododendrons below the box. A little white pops the merlot colored eucalyptus.
This closer look at a companion window box on the side tells the same tale. Just simple and amply proportioned.
I posted some cell phone pictures of this project which were probably just fine. But I especially liked the look here. It is a substantial walk from the drivecourt to the front door; the “welcome to our home” is equally substantive. The green sinamay affixed to the arch looks like pistachio meringue.
The brick face of a garage is a narrow, but important spot. This client drives out and up to this every day. A combination of materials that will withstand the winter weather, and entertain the eye was the order of the day. There are better than great odds that these pussy willow stems will bloom in the spring-willow has a very special will to live.
A giant limestone wall and fireplace mantel is greatly warmed by a holiday expression.
Winter is a dark time in my zone. This picture was taken at 4:20 in the afternoon. The douglas fir reads every bit as dark as the chocolate stained concrete pots. The tallest stems-flame willow. The shorter stems-pussy willow. The combination is is subtly celebratory. If you have not filled your pots yet for winter, you are not too late to the party. A celebration can be any time you choose.
So many of the materials used at the holidays are harvested from the landscape. Not my landscape, mind you. My evergreens grow much too slowly to be trimmed for holiday greens; the one spruce on my property was limbed up at least 12 feet before I moved in. But there are places where the boxwood flushes several times a season, and the magnolia grows lushly. Thank heavens for all the fir-Noble, Frazier, Douglas, Balsam, Silver, Concolor-fir boughs are so beautiful, long lasting, and fragrant at the holidays. And of course, the iconic boxwood. Cut magnolia-this a a subject worthy of a post soon to come. We have true variegated English boxwood branches for the first time this season. Would that I could grow this gorgeous evergreen in my garden! That aside, I plan to enjoy all of the cut greens available during the holiday and winter season.
Noble fir-so aptly named. The short needles grow densely along each branch. They shrug off the worst of the winter weather; the cut branches stay green for months. Evergreen needles have evolved to survive long periods when the roots cannot obtain water, when the soil is frozen. The needles have very little in the way of surface area. This means water evaporates at a lower and slower rate than say a maple leaf. A big surface area means rapid evaporation. Their formal shape and gorgeous blue green color makes them a green of choice for winter arrangements. Noble fir-the mainstay of my winter container arrangements.
Berried juniper is not my most favorite green, but the blue berries are very persistent. I like mixing this green with other blue hued greens.
Long needle pine-just exactly what species is this? This is not a common name that I know. Should you recognize this evergreen, will you write me? The long needled pines-as in white pine, have gracefully curving stems. This makes them great for informal arrangements. Curvy is a good look, for the winter.
I love the texture and the fragrance of cedar. This is an evergreen with flat needles. Those flat needles present more surface area to all of those elements that dry out cut greens. I use Port Orford cedar, a lax and luscious variety distantly related to my thujas, outside only. Cedar roping and branches dry out very quickly indoors. Even outdoors, they dry, brown out, and drop needles too soon to make them a cut green of choice. I use cedar as an accent in my holiday decor projects. Long lasting gets lots of votes. That aside, I like any seasonalexpression. Cut cedar for that one moment brings the holidays to mind. Cedar branches-so fragrant, and so fleeting.
Douglas fir is perhaps the least showy of all of the specialty holiday greens, but its longevity is legendary. I have been known to cut up Douglas fir Christmas trees after Christmas for winter pots. Douglas fir will stay green well into April. I am impressed by this. 
Boxwood is an evergreen so close to my heart-I like them wild, I love them trimmed. Broad leaved evergreens are a great foil to the needled evergreens. This is the perfect cut material for clipped topiaries, and formal wreaths. Any arrangement of needled evergreen boughs gets a visual boost from any boxwood companionship. I like the reference in my holiday decor to the boxwood in my garden.
Princess pine-I have never planted one. I do not know the species. But these branches look great in winter containers and garlands. The long needles are presented in short tufts. Where would this work for you?
German boxwood is a very big leaved boxwood. The very large leaved branches are striking in winter or holiday arrangements.
Oregonia is a name of choice in the florist trade for boxwood-but this boxwood is much more subtle, and smaller leaved than our English variegated boxwood. I will not debate the differences. I can only say that there are so many choices in cut greens for the holidays.
Every bale of greens that came in this week -beautiful. Those fresh materials-they smell great. I hold them in my hands, and imagine. They keep me going. They keep me going strong.