What is it about red at the holidays? How it glows-electrifying. It does not seem to matter whether the material is ribbon, leaves, ornament, twigs, flowers or paper, red warms up the holiday. Those ridiculously large amaryllis blooms-I fall for them. Pointsettias come in a variety of different designer colors, but what beats a well grown pointsettia loaded with red bracts? Red on red-even better. Combining red materials of different textures will give your holiday that sumptuous look-all from the color.
We decorated this ten foot tall tree in a foyer entirely of red ornaments. Large and small, glittered, shiny, matte-a range of reds in different textures. clusters of matte red. Under the tree, a cloud of red sinamay. The repetition of red provides for plenty of holiday drama.
Red is beautiful with greens-whether they be the blue greens of Noble and Silver fir, or the green-green of balsam fir. As red has a darker value, massing it makes it read better from a distance. A smattering of red at a distance will look better if it is backed up with white, or a light green.
When red ornament will be viewed from up close, small splashes work fine.. Wine red needs to be up close; at a distance it will look brown or black-brown. For this reason, I think chartreuse green and wine red are particularly handsome together. Red and blue/green-electric on a dull cloudy day.
Red combines amicably with any other holiday color. Red, dark purple and gold has the look of a pageant. Integrifolia dyed red will bleed some if there is rain, or a thaw; care needs to be taken so it does not stain a terrace. Red also fades in full sun; red twig dogwood is your best bet for good color retention all winter. But for that fleeting moment that we have holidays, red is smashing.
The Bulbeck lead pot is the anchoring ornament of this garden-summer and winter. The mass of red integrifolia in a huge pot makes a strong central holiday statement; the satellite grape vine deer sport red holiday collars. I am unable to resist decorating garden sculpture for the holiday season. No doubt this is a character flaw on my part, but I do it anyway. I like to see garden figures with hats and the dogs with collars.
Eucalyptus dyed red is a very dark red. The science of this-the red dye over the green leaf muddies the color. Mixing colors opposite to each other on the color wheel produces various shades of mud. If an orange terra cotta pot seems too orange, a green wash over top will tone it down.
Red in all its sassy glory at the holidays gives me the same lift as red tulips do in the spring, and a new red jacket. A gloomy time of year can be energized by red.
See what I mean??
Her home has ceilings that soar. The massive chandelier we hung with skeins 0f gold metal mesh in the manner of Spanish moss. Off white berry garlands were woven in and out of the wood trunk and arms of the chandelier. The elegant black iron urns she filled solidly with a very tall creamy brown bamboo; this we secured with oversized medallions of bronze ornaments, cream reindeer moss, and cream frosted pine cones. She had filled the fireplace with candles set on two levels, and dressed the plain terazzo fireplace with a sparkling necklace of delicate mirrored garland. Tall bronze and silver candelabra each with their own holiday touch complete the look.
Her tree gleams with glass, silver and gold ornament she has collected over the years. The staircase railings feature thick garlands stuffed with twigs, lights, and ribbon. This gorgeous look is all of her doing, and ready when I get there. After we do the outdoor pots and lights, we do just a few things inside.
Another year she planned to entertain both at Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday. Given that she expected a lot of guests, she moved her big dining room table into the living room. Though I have known her long enough that I should not be surprised by moves like this, I always am. She has a gift for reinventing spaces, and decorating them just enough to make for visual magic. 
She managed to furnish a small corner of this room beautifully. She gave this intimate space a chandelier all its own; the seating and prints are beautifully arranged. A wispy twig garland wound in mirrored garland speaks to the holiday without overwhelming any other element. 
The holiday in the airspace is evident in her kitchen too. A garland over her kitchen window is dressed in that airy and graceful style that so reminds me of her. Even the light fixtures over her island take on the air of the season. The ribbon trees were made by members of her family; everywhere there are signs of family. Her red vase stuffed with candy canes made me look at candy canes as if I had never seen them before.
Her lower level is a cozy family oriented space; the bar we decorate with Patience Brewster holiday figures, chartreuse wire, and ornaments chosen especially to delight her grandchildren. 
I made this topiary holiday sculpture for her in the same vein. Mossy and twiggy, for the gardener in her; the shape straight from the enchanted forest, for the grandkids.
We spent over a week tearing apart a thirty year old landscape for this client. They had decided that though their kids were grown and gone, they would stay, and renovate both the inside and out of their family home. They had not ever spent much time outdoors; a very small back yard with no privacy from neighboring terrraces and play structures kept them indoors. New screening, and an enlarged gravel addition to their terrace opened the door to a new living space for them. The finishing touch-a collection of Italian style, English made concrete planters.
Their children are all coming home for Thanksgiving; they asked if I could dress the pots in their winter coats in time. They are very excited at the prospect of their kids seeing how their home has been transformed in the past 3 months, and the landscape is part of that. Four of the five pots on the rear terrace would be planted for winter. As they have little in the way of outdoor lighting in the back, we installed lights in every pot. The electrician just installed outdoor plugs for them yesterday, in time for the holiday gathering. 
Preserved and dyed eucalyptus provdes a leafy texture much like the magnolia. The chocolate brown color is surprisingly lightfast outdoors. The container looks dreesed for the weather; the colors perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday will go on looking good as winter settles in. 
The pots are positioned to provide good views of the outdoors from the inside. I will move pots from a summer location to a winter one, if need be. I spend a lot more time looking at my garden in the winter from indoors; I am outdoors as much as possible in the summer. These pots can help alleviate that cooped up feeling invariably creeps up on any northern gardener. 
After the rear terrace pots were installed, they called-could I please do three more. Though they plan to replace these front door pots in the spring, they are not the center of attention here. Red bud pussy willow and dark purple eucalyptus make a formal and quietly beautiful statement at the door. My landscape crews construct and install all of this work; they do such a beautiful job. Clients who have winter pots done for the first time are surprised at what a difference they make. I hear about how nice it feels to have something beautiful to look at outdoors at this time.
The side door has the same pot as the front, but a different treatment. As variety is a very precious commodity this time of year, I avoid repeating the same materials everywhere. These snow branches are all plastic; they look just as good up close, as they do in this picture. I try to include a third, mid-level element in all the winter pots; just sticks and greens is a little too spare for my taste. 
Troy is a gardener of exceptional ability, in addition to his gift as a sculptor. Growing up on a farm on the west side of Michigan, he grew a giant vegetable garden, ran a blueberry farm, did surveying, hunted, fished, and walked the woods. He came by his skills as a naturalist, naturally. He sculpted for me in concrete; this two-headed fox bench is his work. Annie went everywhere with him, including to the studio. 
These very gestural and simple structures provide strength for the concrete and mortar to come. He squishes and packs concrete around these frames; the strength that a garden sculpture needs first and foremost, comes first. But I could tell from these frames I was going to like what came next. The outside mortar layer he hand carves. 
I was not prepared for how much I liked them. His sculptures of hounds are not about a biologically correct reproduction, they are about the heart and soul of his hound Annie. I was astonished by how much energy, motion and fluidity he managed to wring from a marriage of steel, and hundred pound sacks of concrete. This explication aside, these hounds won me over.
One hound was on his back, sunning and scratching, in the garden. Another was howling at the moon as if he had ten minutes to live. Yet another was tentatively down, those back legs were tucked under in such a position he could be cruising at a second’s notice.
This sculpture makes clear the legs that make for balance, and the legs that carry the weight. The position of the ears suggest this hound just shook his head, and looked up towards the moon. Most garden sculpture leaves me cold; these hounds are right at home in a landscape.
There was some discussion with Troy regarding sculpture that relies on the environment to be complete. He said, “don’t give me the history, just tell me what you need”. So ok fine, I asked him for a hound barking up a tree-the tree would be supplied by whomever took this barking dog home. She does have a good tree, and this hound has a good home. 
Troy’s sculptures of hounds could be in or out, up or down, on a sidewalk, in a bed, on a wall. I have placed 16 of them; they all moved away from me. When the garden wanes, I think about how much I value the sculpture that enchants me, all year long. His sculpture-creature comfort.