Don't get excited; we're not talking flowers from the garden in December in Wisconsin. I mean flowers from the greenhouse and the grocery store that will get you and your house in the holiday spirit. While I love the new pink poinsettias, I am looking for cheap, charming and unusual — if such a combination is possible.
Best all-around cut flower are carnations. I recently saw a fat bouquet of white ones in a square glass container set on the back of a toilet tank in a small all-white bathroom. White walls, fixtures, flowers, towels and graphic black and white art. Wintry and wonderful.
I recently opted for 3 bunches of intense carnations: two hot pink and one red. I stuffed them in an antique footed glass bowl (above), with the red ones scattered here and there. The color difference was barely noticeable until the flowers began to fade a bit. I had so many stems that I took the ones that would not fit into the bowl, cut the stems way down and put them into a silver julep cup (top). A container like that is so small that I could move it from table to table and room to room at a moment's notice. That way, you have flowers wherever you go!
I have always had good luck with Cyclamen because we have a cool room where they thrive. They are my go-to flower for the holidays rather than poinsettias. And now they come with large or small flowers, with ruffles and white edges, and in such mouth-watering shades of pink, red, cerise, and burgundy, that it's hard to limit myself to just one plant.
When I wanted something to make the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas without overshadowing the art or the holiday decorations, I turned to a Rex begonia. This is one of the few houseplants that I've grown indoors for a few years at a time. They're easy and the leaves are so fascinating.
This bouquet, picked from the garden in October, was finally tossed out over the weekend. When you start with cedar, sedum and seedpods, you know that you can forget about watering once the vase dries up and everything will just slowly dry out and look good for a month or more.
Is there a flower or plant that says December to you? What's on your must-have list?
Note: Photos have been done using the Hipstamatic app.
