Cheers to a Simpler Christmas

Issue: December 2024

Like many, I absolutely love bringing the outdoors in for Christmas. I miss the flowers and greens my summer gardens gift me and find adding some greenery to my interior gives me the lift I am looking for.

I brought in my plants that would overwinter inside; my Christmas cactus, Clivia Lily, and a Lemon Tree (still no lemons, sigh…) but still enjoy decorating with greens, forced paperwhites, amaryllis, pretty much anything that catches my eye. When I was designing full time, I used to decorate homes for Christmas.

One of my favorite easy tricks was to load up bowls with fresh citrus. I especially like oranges and limes on top of a bowl filled with greens. It feels so organic and if I’m feeling extra festive, I add whole cloves to give some texture and scent to my creation.

There are some years where easy is the key to enjoying the holidays. I often say “go big or go home” but there are times when that just isn’t in my wheelhouse.

If I’m honest with myself, I am finding that the simpler I keep things, the more I am enjoying it. One year when I was knee deep in Christmas decorating for clients I got all of the decorating done at my house except for the tree. I asked my son and husband to please do that part.

Their excuse, uhh… I mean reason, for not doing it was that I was the only one who could make it look so good!

Well, I ran out of time so I pulled the blow up tree out that was meant for the back porch and plugged that little baby into the socket in our family room. We opened gifts that year to the purr of the motor blowing air to keep it up. We had a ton of laughs over it and enjoyed our new twist on a tree. There were even blow up ornaments on the branches and gifts around the base. Talk about a new way to bring the outdoors in!

While I absolutely love a big Christmas tree, there are times I don’t want the mess and I am not up to be serenaded by the whirl of a motor.

My solution is to use wreaths instead. I like the simplicity of wreaths. A round form, wire, cuttings from your yard with a sprinkle of ribbon and you have have your personal creation to hang. You can place them individually or in a grouping, use them inside and out. I’ve even been know to put one in my powder room! How easy, no heavy lifting and no big mess when it’s time to haul out the tree.

I think the message in all of this is that the season is about enjoying and celebrating the things that are important to you. For a gardener, it’s enjoying the outdoors and finding ways to bring a little bit of that inside. And, simple most times is good enough!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Gardening!