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.
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