It doesn’t take much to add a little holiday shimmer to a winter container arrangement. Anything that sparkles is very festive. Sinamay is polyester fabric that can be found shot through with metallic threads. It holds its naturally curvy shape no mater the weather. Not great with swags and bows? This material does the work for you. I fold it over, and run a wire through the bottom near the crease edge. Once I pull the wire as tight as it will go around the centerpiece, I get plenty of curls and curves. That shimmer is great during the day, and especially effective at night in pots that have lighting. A little glitz and glam has its time and place. It takes but a second to remove it after New Years. Should you decide to leave it on all winter, the metallic threads will dull down after exposure to winter weather.
New for me this year is eucalyptus with a metallic finish. The centerpiece in this pot is 2 parts whitewash, and 1 part silver metallic. This is just enough shimmer to brighten the daytime look. I am sure the look is quite sparkly at night, given the lights in the topiary form.
The arrangements have a subtle glow, given the late day sun, and read well from a distance. The pots are placed at the end of a driveway, where they frame the natural landscape behind.
The side door pot has the same combination, with the addition of some white flocked picks. The dry natural stems have just a hint of silver flake on them. The overal effect-shimmery.
These pots have plum eucalyptus mixed with copper. The effect is subtle enough that I wouldn’t be afraid to leave them in the arrangement all winter. Michigan winters are particularly dreary. Anything that reflects what little light we have is a visual treat. The snow and the cold are ok, but the gloom is just about intolerable.
Red bud pussy willow has a naturally copper cast. The copper metallic leaves by themselves are a little overwhelming, but in a mix, they shine
These winter pots have pale green glittery picks in between the pussy willow and the white berry picks. They are the perfect note for a holiday party.
That glittery layer speaks to the holidays coming up. Once the holidays pass, those picks can be removed. The more somber winter arrangement will look great through March. Spraying wiltpruf on fresh cut greens does improve their longevity. Wiltpruf is a water and was emulsion which slows the rate of evaporation from the needles. Cut evergreens that dry out look bad. The most effective professional grade antidessicant is called VaporGard. Growers at my local market spray their ornamental cabbages and kales with it after transplanting them out of the field. It does indeed prevent wilting.
These light strings on metal poles Rob calls lightsicles. Certain of the mini lights have plastic light covers over them in a random pattern. They look great hung from the eaves of a house, or from a tree. For the holidays, we loosely wrapped a sinamay ribbon around the poles, and pushed the glass lights through the mesh. The ribbon reflects natural light in a very subtle way. Light strings are very hard to use in a design, as the daytime look is so much about the wires. Using lights with brown cords, or garland lights that have the bulbs placed close together can help.
This little bit of sinamay ribbon allows the light to shine through at night, and covers the steel pole and wires during the day. The chartreuse ornaments are plastic-a perfect material for outdoors.
It’s time for the sparkles.
