Ready to spruce up your home for a holiday party or family gathering but without a lot of fuss? We turn to two Charlotte gardening and design experts for tips on ways to beautify your home for the holidays, both inside and out.
Melanie Bowden of A Perfect Pot offers suggestions for potted arrangements to use outdoors, while Laura Tenzer of Blomst Designs Charlotte shares how to pick the perfect flowers for your holiday table.
Melanie Bowden of A Perfect Pot on outdoor potted plants and decor:
Beautiful exterior flowers are not exclusive to the warmer months here in the Southeast. Our climate in Charlotte allows for a wide variety of beautiful and flowering plants that are cold-hardy and able to thrive in our winter temperatures. Here are seven suggestions for how to go about bringing beautiful florals to your doorways, porches or yards this December.
1. Make note of available sunlight
When choosing a flower, be sure to consider whether your planters will be in full sun or shade. It's also important to think about whether the plants will be exposed to the elements or sheltered under a porch or overhang.
2. Use colorful flowers
Camellias are a wonderful choice this time of year because they bloom all winter, they are evergreen year-round, and they thrive in both planters and in the ground. They come in a wide variety of colors, and some have a lovely scent. Other flowering staples for the winter months are violas and pansies. These beautiful delicate-looking flowers are actually hard-working, cold-loving, and come in a rainbow of colors. You can ensure they will bloom through the spring by removing spent blooms.
3. Add colorful leaves too
Check specialty nurseries for more exotic color offerings. A great nonflowering, cold-hardy choice is ornamental kale, which comes in red, purple, green, and variegated. These leather-leafed wonders deliver a huge impact in planters with their whimsical cabbage-like appearance.
4. Think outside the box
Herbs like rosemary and mustard are hard-working, cold weather lovers. And for your spillers, ivy is a true winter work horse. Another great choice is Asiatic Jasmine, which comes in variegated leaves of pink or yellow.
5.Use frost-proof planters
Frost-resistant ceramic planters are a great way to keep plants comfortable in the coldest climates. The planters themselves can add a lovely design element too.
6. Don't forget to water
In Charlotte's cooler months, watering should not be as aggressive as in other seasons here, but plants still need to be kept moist. They should also be protected with a sheet in the event of extreme conditions to avoid frost burn.
7. Make it Holiday
Adding cut evergreen or decorative branches in and around your home is a great alternative to using live plants, or they can be used to complement live plants by adding a little extra height or depth.
Laura Tenzer of Blomst Designs on indoor holiday interior arrangements:
Everything looks more festive with flowers—so says the florist—especially at holiday time. Flowers can bring a festive flair to just about any space in your home, and you don't necessarily have to invest in fresh cut flowers and vases to pull it off.
A great place to start is mixing in holiday greens like boxwood, magnolia, and any pine or spruce. Look to your yard as your first source. You can explore non-traditional vessels that may already be in your home or pantry. Silver or gold finishes will dress up any collection of flowers, just make sure they are waterproof. A beautiful arrangement can even stand alone to decorate an area if you have run out of time or other decorations.
If your to-do list is already too long, and you'd rather outsource, Charlotte has a host of design professionals who will visit your home and curate a floral selection that ties together your personal style and holiday goals—with a bow.
Enjoy your holiday season!
"Frost-resistant ceramic planters are a great way to keep plants comfortable in the coldest climates."
"A great place to start is mixing in holiday greens like boxwood, magnolia, and any pine or spruce. Look to your yard as your first source."