The Rural Voice, 2002-03, Page 45Gardening
Planting for a wedding
We used holly leaves from the
garden around the base of the ball for a
clean finish around where the stem is
inserted. Fearing I would have to strip
my single foot holly bushes for the 24
topiaries, I purchased a wreath of
artificial magnolia leaves. They will
work perfectly.
But on to the dried material. We first
inserted a base filler of fine baby's
breath. Into this cloud of ivory and
taupe we inserted rose to ivory
coloured love -in -a -mist or nigella, wild
oregano which dries deep burgundy,
silver artemesia, poppy seed heads and
a few of the smaller silver penny seed
pods. What luck that the clary sage
dried in shades of pink and navy blue.
We looked for dried miniature roses
and have discovered a silk variety that
matches quite nicely for a fraction of
the price. Ribbon was picked up at a
local craft store and Voila! we have a
topiary.
We have to add a bit more winter
mood and are going to add some native
ilex verticillata, or winter berry, and
miniature pinecones. A quick insert of
IIMEM
box wood or spruce tips will make the
look more in keeping with the winter
season.
The next step is to begin thinking
about what we have to dry. I will have
to sow my nigella seed as soon as the
ground is warm enough. I have a good
supply of large orange poppy seeds as
well as the dainty California poppy
seeds. We are going to harvest the
lavender early to add to the mix as well
as divide the artemeisia and encourage
more rampant growth from it. We also
will be drying Joe Pie Weed which
grows by the river. It dries to a very
fine dusty pink and each flower head
can be divided into smaller florets.
There is also a patch of wild oregano
on the side of the road not far from here
that I have been eyeing and will make a
stop there during the blooming season.
It is promising to be a busy summer
and I will have to clean out the rafters
in the barn to hang the flowers. They
will need a warm dry spot that is dark
and protected: that's my barn. The seed
packets are lined up, all we need now is
Spring!0
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MARCH 2002 41
-mob
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
I have a friend who is getting
married in the depths of winter between
the two magical dates of Christmas and
New Years. She is looking at snow-
flakes, evergreens, barn board backdrops
highlighted with miniature lights that
will look like glistening moon -
drenched snowflakes and something
special and unique for the tables.
I was looking over her shoulder one
day as she was pointing out topiaries
featured in a popular glossy magazine.
They varied in size from two feet to ten
inches. They were not the traditional
evergreens clipped. into some unusual
shape but round balls of dried material
and evergreens atop sturdy stems in
classic cast iron planters. Bits of ribbon
were tucked in here and there to tie it in
with the surrounding decorations.
Clever idea.
"We can do that", I proudly
exclaimed, "with dried flowers and
plant material." So now I am planting
for a wedding.
I made up a sample topiary with
materials I had dried last year. I used
red osier or dogwood for the stem and a
rustic clay pot. We solved the toppling
over problem by filling the pot with
sand and then inserting a piece of oasis
to fill the top of the pot making a
secure base for the wee tree.
The top of the topiary is a styrofoam
ball which we painted with white glue
and covered with dried Spanish moss.
It was a messy job and the moss sticks
out with wild abandon but it made for a
great colour to start with.
Since this sample was made I picked
up a new trick by watching the Rose
Bowl parade. A lot of their base
material on the floral floats is ground,
chopped or shredded to make it easier
to apply. So coarsely chopping the
Spanish moss in a food processor and
rolling glue painted balls in it will give
us a great mossy start.