The Zimbabwean Gardener Issue 3 Summer 2012 | Page 37

Flowers in the home
Christmas is such a very busy time,
as we all want to do our best to make
our homes look festive and beautiful
but often leave things until too late.
This wreath is very easy to make and
children could be encouraged to join
in on the fun of Christmas preparations
and make this themselves a couple of
days before the big day.

How to make the Christmas wreath
Before starting, soak the oasis ring for a few hours to ensure it is thoroughly wet.

1

2

I have made this wreath using mostly
green and silver variegated foliage to
give a fresh light look. It is relatively
inexpensive as you can gather most of
the material from your garden.

Materials needed
le from
• An oasis ring availab
Floribunda

Cut a piece of chicken wire and wrap it
around the oasis ring, this helps keep the
foliage and oasis in place in the ring.

3

Make a loop using tying wire at the top of
the oasis; you’ll loop the ribbon through
here at the end to hang it up.

4

• Chicken wire mesh
fine wire from
• Florist tying wire or
a hardware shop
• Tartan ribbon
ina
• We used Ficus benjam
ted foliage or try
variega
(Coprosma
Variegated mirror plant
other glossy
repens), Pittosporum or
green leaves
Bay leaves
• We used fresh green
, Camellia or
or try Gardenia
Escallonia
cum berries
• We used Green hyperi
Cotoneaster
or try Red hypericum,
ries
berries or Dracaena ber

ds - you can
• Agapanthus seed hea
silver
spray them with gold or
spray paint
roses
• Red carnations or red
decorative
• Red Christmas tree
berries
s tree
• Gold or silver Christma
balls

Start placing short stems of variegated
ficus foliage round the edge of the ring,
making sure you keep the foliage facing
in a sideways and downwards position.
Leave a space at the top of the ring for
the flowers and Christmas tree balls.

5

At the top, attach the bow around the top
with some florist tying wire.

7

Then add some green hypericums and
use the bay leaves to fill in all the gaps
around the ring.

6

Place the red berries and gold balls at the
top using wire too.

8

After care

Before the oasis dries out, take down
the wreath and soak for a few minutes
in a shallow bowl of water to rehydrate
it. Dead pieces can be replaced with bits
and pieces from the garden to make the
arrangement last longer.

Finally place the red carnations slightly
asymmetrical at the top of the wreath
and fill the gaps with green deadheaded
agapanthus heads. These could be
sprayed with gold or silver paint to give
the impression of little ‘stars’.

Loop a ribbon into the top wire and hang up
on the front door or above the mantel piece.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas!
37