A Fresh Perspective on Your Garden

Arranging gives you a fresh perspective on your garden and what you plant in it. You will begin to plant for the varied foliage and colors that make your arrangements interesting and, in turn, your garden will become more interesting as well. You don't have to buy flowers to make beautiful arrangements. You can even use fruits and vegetables and then eat your creation!

Particularly at this Thanksgiving holiday, the use of vegetables and nuts seems appropriate. The holiday just conjures images of a bounty of vegetables spilling from a cornucopia. I made one for myself, of found foliage in the garden, dried material I had sitting around, hickory nuts that I found in the parking lot at the YMCA and pheasant feathers that I had saved from a previous arrangement. I'm pleased with it.

Several Christmas holidays ago, we visited with our family in the San Francisco area. We were laughing at the Saturday Night Live skit where actors spoofed Martha Stewart by building an arrangement from "found items". The arrangement included crushed beer cans and old dog bones. Later, when the family went for a hike on Mount Diablo, everyone spontaneously began to put "found things" in their pockets. Even the kids came home with sticks, cones, rocks - all contributions to what became our Christmas table centerpiece. No cans or dog toys, but when our "found stuff" was supplemented with foliage from the garden, we had a very respectable looking arrangement.

Enjoy your holidays. There is lots to be grateful for.