Montgomery uses a grapevine wreath as the starting point for a fall decoration. The wreaths can be purchased at craft stores or made from grapevines when they are still supple.

This cornucopia includes fresh greenery, faded sunflowers, just-picked grapes and preserved leaves.

Never underestimate the festive potential of a shriveled sunflower or dried-up cornstalk. Garden leftovers can star in autumn decorations.

Floral designer Darlene Montgomery demonstrated how to make simple fall decorations with garden remnants, fall produce and a few craft-store accents at last week’s University of California/Shasta College Master Gardeners meeting in Redding. Shasta College horticulture instructor Leimone Waite gathered the materials for the demonstration. Montgomery didn’t know what she would be working with until she arrived.

“It’s like a surprise package,” she said of the sunflower heads, pomegranates, grape clusters, hydrangeas, cornstalks, seed heads and lotus pods spread across several tables.

The surprise element gave the evening an undercurrent of reality television. Montgomery works in the floral department at Safeway and teaches floral design classes for Redding Recreation. Relying on her many years of floral design experience and using a technique known as “winging it,” she dived right in.

“It’s not going to be perfect,” she said, adding, “Perfect is highly overrated.”

She started with an edible wreath for backyard birds. Montgomery glued panicles of milo onto a grapevine wreath base and added dried sunflowers heads filled with seeds. She dangled Petite Sirah grape clusters from the wreath and attached a few small pomegranates. Sliced fresh apples, which weren’t on the table, would be another good option for a bird wreath, Montgomery noted.

A bird wreath can be hung on a gate, fence or tree. “Birds love it,” she said.

People like autumn decorations too, of course. They make nice gifts, especially if they include the personal touch of homegrown items, Montgomery said.

To demonstrate how to make a decorative wreath, she again used sunflowers and pomegranates, but also added dried hydrangeas, lotus pods and dyed craft-store leaves. A few pheasant feathers were the finishing touch. Montgomery used a hot-glue gun, wooden picks and wire to secure items to the grapevine base.

With wreaths, the design at the base should be echoed at the top, she said. “Whatever you do at the bottom, tie it in little bit at the top.”

Montgomery also showed how to make cornucopias. She began with florist foam secured to the wicker baskets.

“Make a base of greenery,” Montgomery said, as she poked foliage stems into the foam. She layered lemon leaf, huckleberry and nandina for a mix of textures. Dried cornstalk sections and cattails were used to extend the design.

“The whole idea is to have it flowing out,” she said.

Cattails from craft stores won’t explode into a cloud of tiny seeds, but if you collect cattails in the wild, treat them with a fixative before adding them to an arrangement, Montgomery stressed.

Nothing says fall like miniature pumpkins. The festive orbs do rot, however. “Keep an eye on them in your floral designs so they don’t turn to mush,” Montgomery said.

That advice goes for other fresh items, such as grapes clusters. No worries about pomegranates, however. They turn dry and leathery and can be used for many years, Montgomery said.

To bring bling to decorations, she suggested wire-edged ribbon. It’s easy to weave into designs. “Wire ribbon is so great,” Montgomery said.

Have fun with projects. Try different materials. “Sometimes you don’t know what materials are going to do until you experiment with them,” Montgomery said.

If you prefer to avoid anything involving a glue gun, flowers from the garden can be displayed in a vase for a simple autumn accent. There are plenty of late bloomers to feature. Montgomery offers these tips for showcasing garden flowers in a vase:

— Use a clean vase and fresh water.

— Strip away any foliage that will be underwater.

— Snip off the ends of the stems.

— Use a packet of flower food (available at florists and craft stores). “It really does make a difference,” Montgomery said.

— Use filler materials (baby’s breath, yarrow, etc.) to balance the featured flowers.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Luxury specialist Crystal Cruises is providing a uniquely verdant perspective on the Mediterranean with a new Garden Floral Design-themed voyage sailing from Barcelona to Venice on April 21.  Aptly named “La Dolce Vita,” the Crystal Serenity cruise offers more than 15 serenity-filled Crystal Adventures visiting some of the most renowned, romantic, and private gardens that epitomize the Catalan coast and French and Italian Rivieras.  On board, Britian’s celebrity floral designer, Paula Pryke, and Sybil Sylvester, founder of flower “creative think tank,” Wildflower Designs, will also offer hands-on workshops and presentations in floral design, arrangement, and other floral-related topics. 

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121018/LA96026)

“The scenery in these destinations is simply spectacular, and is only enhanced by the artistry and historical significance expressed in their gardens,” says Victoria Harris, Crystal’s manager of hotel services and design.  “Together, the ship and shore enrichment allow travelers to get to know the area, and its unparalleled landscape, in a really novel way, while also teaching green and black thumbs alike valuable ‘trip souvenir’ skills they can bring back home.”

Vacationers can “smell the roses” (and other flora and fauna blossoming next spring) in/near:

• Venice – Insider explorations of cozy Venetian squares and private courtyards include a garden created by Italian modernist architect Carlo Scapa, inside the 16^th-century Palazzo Querini Stampalia museum and library complex.
• Monte Carlo – From exotic gardens of succulents and sub-tropical microclimate species, to umbrella pines and rare fruit trees, Crystal takes guests throughout the Cote d’Azur to explore classic French, Spanish, and even English garden design, complete with stunning coastline views and even a lesson in cooking with flowers.
• Barcelona – Excursions go off the beaten-tourist-path, from the city’s newest garden hotspot – the conservation-focused Botanical Garden, showcasing the plants of five Mediterranean climate – to the city’s oldest garden, the neoclassical Cypress-filled maze of Labyrinth Park…as well as to the area’s popular Park Güell, one of Gaudí’s most famous works.
• Rome – Italy’s finest Renaissance garden includes cascading fountains and dripping grottoes dating back almost 450 years.

In between overnights on both ends, the Experiences of Discovery luxury cruise visits Trogir, Croatia and Florence, Sorrento, and Sicily, Italy.  Until October 31, all-inclusive, “Book Now” fares for the 11-day itinerary begin at $4,165 per person.

A second Garden Floral Design-themed voyage sails from LA to NYC on May 6, offering visits to lush private and public gardens in Charleston, Florida, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean. 

Crystal’s passion for taking care of guests in an inviting environment of extraordinary space, quality and choices has earned the company more “World’s Best” awards than any other cruise line, resort, or hotel in history. 

For more information and Crystal reservations, contact a travel agent, call 888-799-4625, or visit www.crystalcruises.com.

CONTACT:  Mimi Weisband or Susan Wichmann 310-203-4305, mediarelations@crystalcruises.com. VISIT:  Crystal’s Media Center

SOURCE Crystal Cruises

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When an avid gardener gets the opportunity to start from scratch in a new location, it’s always interesting to see what happens. Rose Romboski took that challenge when she started over on a half-acre lot in Cranberry five years ago. Her new creation worked out so well that she was selected as the large garden winner of the PG Great Gardens Contest, fall/year-round category.

Mrs. Romboski, who as a child lived above her parents’ funeral home in Coraopolis, became interested in flowers early on.

“I was always amazed by the beautiful floral arrangements in the funeral home. I’d ask my Dad after the funeral was over and the families would take the arrangements they wanted if I could ‘pick flowers to make bouquets.’ Of course he said yes because those flowers get thrown away. I would make my own arrangements going from basket to basket picking flowers, even taking them to school for my teachers.”

When she and her husband, Larry, purchased their first home in 1995, it was partially landscaped. But she saw potential for a shade garden in the back of the property. As that garden grew, she became more interested in gardening and eventually completed the Penn State Master Gardener program in 2000.

“That first garden was nice,” Mrs. Romboski says, “but what I really wanted was to design everything from scratch and have the house feel like it’s getting a ‘hug’ from the gardens around it. So when Larry and I decided to build our current home, we thought of all the details, from the beds that surround the entire house, meandering sidewalks that connect the front yard to the back, to the 51/2-foot stone wall that runs the entire length of the backyard. I literally drew out what I envisioned and worked with the contractors to incorporate the sidewalks, walls and garden beds with the construction of the house.”

Mrs. Romboski credits builder Wayne Henchar with having the same vision she did when he constructed the lovely stone walls that run along the back of the property.

All the plants are new, except for some hostas that she brought from her former home. Bob Yates of Pride Nursery was instrumental in helping her select some of the large trees and shrubs. Michele Morgan of Nature’s Reflection in Middlesex installed the pondless waterfall. True to its name, it holds water in a large underground reservoir.

The plantings include a diverse list: ‘Walker’s Low’ catmint, ‘Knockout’ roses, Shasta daisies, coreopsis, ‘Duchesse De Nemours’ white peonies, ‘Colette’ climbing rose, ‘Polish Spirit’ clematis and ‘Limelight’ and ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas. Wooly thyme acts as an accent throughout, tumbling over the stone walls. Trees include Sweet bay magnolias, stewartia and three Japanese cherry trees given to the couple as a housewarming gift. There is also many conifers tucked throughout for winter interest.

On one wall of the home is an apple espalier she found at a box store. This year it is bearing fruit, although Mrs. Romboski says she has no idea what type of apple it is because the tag was not on it when she purchased it. Her husband helped her cable it to the home after he got over his initial horror at drilling holes in the brick for the eyebolts.

She says the garden is a joint effort. Her husband takes care of the mowing, and their Labrador retriever, Ashton, provides companionship. It is clearly a source of pride that she maintains the property without outside help and still has time to be active in the community. She is president of The Southern Butler County Garden Club, where she is happy “to be surrounded by a wonderful group that loves gardening as much as I do.”

Walking through her serene garden, one notices the attention to detail and obvious love that has been lavished on the landscape. Accents, such as a custom trellis made for the couple by Iron Eden, a bubbling fountain and small pieces of sculpture are thoughtfully chosen and placed.

Mrs. Romboski says she does not seek out unusual varieties of plants. Rather, she chooses plants that please her and that she can cut and turn into bouquets, so the landscape also serves as a large “cutting” garden.

“I guess my design aesthetic is to be surrounded by the beauty of gardening. No matter what window in the house you peek out of, you can see a garden and therefore something beautiful.”