One of the “warm fuzzy” memories we carry from Christmases past is the fragrance associated with the winter holidays. The aroma of cookies and pies fresh from the oven, the spicy essence of pomander balls in our stockings, the evergreen of the tree and the olfactory delight of Christmas dinner spread on the table.

If you’re observing Hanukkah, many of the same elements have become part of your remembrance.  From lighting the Hanukkia to feasting on latkes, the warmth of family and friends centers around our dining tables.

I think the table centerpiece should be part of that warm feeling. It will grace your table with color, texture and fragrance while you’re wrapping gifts and long after your lovingly folded, taped and ribboned packaging has been shredded in excitement!

This design combines aromatic evergreen, eucalyptus, cinnamon, pinecones, roses and spicy stock (matthiola).

Choose a container that’s large enough to hold a good amount of water surrounding the floral foam. Evergreen stems are very thirsty! Flowers and greens do not “drink” water from the wet foam, but from the water that surrounds the foam. Even when the foam feels wet to the touch, you still need to keep the container filled with water.

Use several different varieties of evergreen to make your design interesting. Port Orford cedar, white pine, silver fir, berried juniper and blue spruce are some good choices for contrast and fragrance.

Fresh evergreen can become very heavy looking and flat because most types are not shiny and don’t reflect light. To counter that, I add foliages with a smoother, shiny texture to give life to the design. In this example, I used ivy, jasmine and holly.  Salal (lemon leaf) red huckleberry, variegated pittosporum, boxwood and myrtle also are good additions to prevent your beautiful evergreen from becoming the great black hole that swallows your other design elements!

After arranging the greenery, add a cluster of cinnamon sticks on one side—don’t be stingy, make it a good sized grouping.  To put the cinnamon sticks into the arrangement, insert one end of a pointed floral pick (or the trusty wooden skewer) into the crevices in the cinnamon and the other end into the foam.

Visually balance the cinnamon cluster on the opposite side with pinecones, then add flowers, also in groupings.  I’ve used red and white roses and white stock, but many different types of flowers will be just as pretty.  We often use lilies, starburst chrysanthemums, red gerbera daisies or red miniature carnations. For Hanukkah arrangements, we use white flowers and add an element of silver.

Put some of the flowers deep into the design for depth and to highlight those that extend out farther.

I don’t worry much about the height of this centerpiece. Usually, you want to be able to see over (or under) the flowers, but there’s so much food on the holiday table that the centerpiece needs to be moved for dining anyway!  So use the natural line the fresh materials offer you and make a gorgeous presentation to be enjoyed both before and after dinner.

To compliment the fragrances in the arrangement, you can make “spicy votives” to enhance your table setting.  Place a plastic or glass disposable votive candle into a larger glass votive cup and surround it with whole spices.  The warmth from the candle will waft their aroma throughout the room.  I used cinnamon, cloves, allspice and orange rind.

You can expand on that notion by using a larger container for the spices and a larger votive or enclosed candle. You can also mix in cranberries or ilex berries for more color.  Make several and place them in appealing groupings on the table. There’s no such thing as too many—add all the sparkle of candlelight and natural element of the spices your heart desires.

Please be careful with candles!  If you must put them into the actual centerpiece, use a glass-enclosed candle. Then if you are reveling in the holiday spirit and forget to extinguish the flame, you’ll avoid setting the evergreen on fire. When you place votive candles, or any candle, on the table, make certain they are not too close to the greens or other decorations.  The safest option is a battery-operated votive light, but you’ll lose the fragrance.

We use a spade drill bit to make a recess in the top of a wax column candle (first remove the wick) that will accommodate the battery votive, then drop it in. The votive has a flicker and looks remarkably realistic. They will remain lit for 30 hours and have replaceable batteries.  This works especially well on mantles-- they don’t cause wax drips or pose a fire hazard.

So get busy and make some fond memories this holiday season!

As always, the natural beauty of flowers will be part of our family celebration-- right along with Mom’s cranberry sauce, the something-we-forgot and need to borrow from Mary Ann across the street, and the traditional “kitchen chaos” we never fail to create!

All of us at Santee Floral Designs wish you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Fall is with us in full swing and along with its arrival comes the fun shapes, colors and textures of gourds and squash.  The quirky nature of these little gems make them a natural for your table top. Miniature gourds and pumpkins are in abundance at the grocery and local farmers' markets this time of year. Just a cluster or two of them along with some well-placed candle groupings can enliven any table, but using them in a centerpiece adds even more color and substance.
 
While this centerpiece looks complex, it's actually very easy to construct.  You can also extend it's beauty for a very long time by simply replacing a few elements occasionally.

In this design I used faux gourds--those with a papery coating and styrofoam body--for a couple of reasons. The most obvious being that they last indefinitely and you can save them from year to year. Another reason for using the permanent ones is that they are easy to work with in a centerpiece. 
 
Begin by selecting a container or basket.  Choose one that holds water or that will accommodate a plastic liner. Soak floral design foam in water and place it into the container making sure to allow a little space around the edges for a water reservoir. Start by inserting a wire, wood floral pick or my favorite, a wooden skewer, into each of the gourds.  If you are using fresh produce, you may need to use a sharp knife or your trusty drill to pierce the tough skin so that the skewer can be inserted. Be careful during this process as they roll!
 
Now, place them randomly in your design by pushing the wire or skewer into the foam.  Make whatever pattern strikes your fancy. It will look pretty silly at this point, but we aren't finished yet!
 
Gather some fall grassy items--you can use purchased products such as wheat and mullet, or you can go gathering "roadsidia" (that's what you find along the roadside!). Johnson grass, bunny tails, pampas grass and dock all work very well.   Make the grasses into little bundles and lay them  at various angles among the gourds. Secure them to the foam with a hairpin, bent wire or greening pin. 
 
The next step is to add a touch of foliage around the edge and in the body of the arrangement.  Use salal (lemon leaf), oregonia, or snip pieces of euonymus or boxwood from your yard. (It's looking better now, isn't it?)
 
Finish the centerpiece by using fresh flowers to fill in the remaining empty spaces. I used sunflowers, cock's comb and roses, but any colorful fresh flower will work. Voila!  You have a centerpiece that epitomizes fall.  To extend its beauty, simply replace the fresh flowers as they fade.
 
The place card holders work better with faux gourds and mini- pumpkins because of the moisture content of the real ones.  Simply make a slit in the gourd and insert a place card. The addition of the place cards adds a personal touch and brings design elements out onto the table.
 
Now you can welcome fall to your table and enjoy the colors and interesting shapes of  the gourds and squash that arrive with the season.

May was a joyous time in the ancient calendar. The Maypole and the dance around it is a symbol of the earth awakening each spring.

These little flower "topiaries" evoke two long-standing traditions: the May celebrations and the topiary form.

May 1st was a traditional springtime holiday in many pre-Christian European cultures and the May Day celebration has spawned many customs, some of which are still celebrated today, such as the Maypole and the crowning of the Queen of the May. Children dance around the Maypole weaving the ribbons in and out to make colorful patterns.

In Germany, May 1st is a holiday similar to Labor Day in the United States, and other remembrances have political significance in several countries.

While we often think of topiaries as flowers or a plant shaped at the top of a stem or trunk, the art of topiary traditionally involves training shrubs or trees into ornamental designs, some of which can be quite elaborate—such as the birds and animals at Disney World.

The art of the topiary form is also a very old one that was introduced into Rome during the time of Julius Caesar.

These festive little interpretations of those traditions are simple to make and will welcome spring to your table.

Begin with one or more containers that will accommodate wet floral foam.  Small urns, glazed clay pots or any water-tight container will work well. Float the foam in water until it is saturated, then trim it to fit the container and insert it.

The flowers will be easier to work with for this design if they are at room temperature so that the stems are not brittle.  Use most any flower you like, but remember that the smaller the bloom, the more of them you'll need! These are Carnaval roses, Godetia and Alstroemeria.

Insert the stems into the foam closely together and so that all the blooms are at the same height, gather them together near the top and tie them with ribbon.  Leave the streamers long enough to create the Maypole feeling—use as many as you like!

Cover the foam with dampened moss and accent with leaves, sprigs of any smaller flower such as Statice  Diosma or Boronia  to create interest and balance at the base of the design.

May is still a joyous month on our calendars - our world becomes green once again and the May flowers that those April showers brought are ours to enjoy.

Tulips have been around for centuries and today, Americans purchase more than 83 million of them each year. Native to Asia, bulbs were brought back from Turkey by Venetian merchants.

Members of the lily family, liliaceae genus tulipa, tulips first bloomed in Holland around 1594. Botanist Carolus Clusius, one of the earliest growers, planted tulip bulbs from his collection in a small garden at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. His resulting garden is considered to be the birth of the famous Dutch flower bulb business.

Clusius' tulips caused a sensation in 17th century Holland. Soon, Dutch society was swept up in a tulip-trading frenzy, and traders offered sky-high bids for the bulbs. The result was a speculative mania with tulip bulbs used as currency and traded much like stocks on the stock exchange.

Quite an illustrious history for the lovely little flowers that pop cheerily from our gardens each spring!

One of the things I like most about tulips is their independence. They are both phototropic and geotropic, meaning that growth is affected by light and gravity. Blooms curve upwards and bend toward sources of light. Tulips also continue to grow even after they've been cut. This is a problem for the order-cravers among us! Your vase of tulips will be different each day.
 
When a customer brings us a picture of an arrangement of tulips that they love and wants one just like it, I ask "do you love tulips, or do you love the picture of the tulips?" A picture is tulips frozen in time—they won't look like that tomorrow!  I use them in designs that are simple and embrace their wild characteristics.

In this example, I used the leftover "nubs" or bottoms of the stems of bear grass bunches. (We already used the pretty flowing part in other tulip designs!)  The bear grass offers a structural element to anchor and accent the wandering ways of the flowers.

If you don't have seven bunches of bear grass nubs handy, asparagus works well. You could also use fresh green beans or simply pieces of twigs—but beware things that float! You'll need to fill the vase tightly enough to keep them in place.

The tulips are grouped around the base and in the center of the design. The simplicity of this design is its beauty—it allows us to appreciate the changes in each flower over several days.  Tulips will last in a vase with floral preservative for about three to six days.

So head to the flower shop and take home a bunch or two of spring-in-a-vase to enjoy the historic and fun blossoms of untamable tulips.

Ahhh---the flurry of holiday activities has ended and the time spent celebrating with family and friends is now a pleasant memory. This is the time when we can re-group and reflect... and, of course, there's the annual ritual of editing the long list of New Year's resolutions!

For many of us, toward the top of the list will be the resolution to simplify our lives a little. In that spirit, the centerpiece pictured is very undemanding (in keeping with the advice often given by my Dad, the "KISS" philosophy. Since I have a very kind dad, that means "keep it simple, Sweetheart" but we all know that last "S" usually stands for something else!).

This grouping of flowers and containers allows the blooms to stand out and become more focal. The technical term for this design is “monobottanical” because each cluster has only one kind of flower. It's also monochromatic because they are all the same color. This type of arrangement is peaceful and uncomplicated.

There's a harmony of color, texture and shape. You can use any flowers, greens, or even clusters of "filler" flowers such as statice, limonium or even baby's breath.

Choose containers with a common element and complimentary shape, in this case all glass vases that are square or rectangular. You could use various sizes and shapes of tea cups, stemmed glasses, or even canning jars.

Select flowers of varying sizes and shapes. I've used hydrangea, roses, ornithogolum (stars of Bethlehem) and oriental lilies. Use some large flowers because theses little groupings actually need a lot more flowers than you'd think! Some more budget-conscious choices could be daisies, stock, carnations, godetia or alstroemeria.

If you are going to leave the vases in place on your table, simply fill the containers with water, arrange the flowers in them, cluster your votives and voila! If you don't add preservative to the water, be sure to change it every couple of days to prevent it from becoming cloudy or smelly. (Don't use preservative in metal containers as it reacts with the metal.)

Now, resolve to enjoy the gift of flowers that Mother Nature has given us and have a happy and healthy New Year!