Once all those wreath orders were in, a small army descended on Pleasant Valley Greenhouse for [...]]]>

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we had another record-breaking year of wreath sales, selling a combined total of 381 fir and boxwood wreaths!! This exceeded last year’s sales, our previous record, by more than 30 wreaths.

Once all those wreath orders were in, a small army descended on Pleasant Valley Greenhouse for two days, decorating 324 wreaths. Each wreath is unique, each one beautiful, and all possible because of our amazingly wonderful volunteers. We are always thankful for our volunteers, especially this time of year when all around the country people are counting our blessings.

Volunteers gathered flowers, seed pods, pine cones and other decorating items for months in advance. Volunteers donated almost a mile of beautiful ribbon. Volunteers tied 325 bows. Volunteers sold wreaths. Volunteers decorated wreaths. Volunteers packed wreaths for shipping. Volunteers delivered wreaths.

From 1-4PM on Friday & Saturday of this week, people who ordered a wreath will come out to Pleasant Valley Greenhouse pick them up. With so many choices, some people spend more than 1/2 hour to make their choice. Will they choose a white, red, gold, or other bow? Does traditional or more modern suit their style? Will the wreath be hung on their own front door or given as a gift? No matter the answers to these questions, everyone is sure to find the perfect wreath.

Thank you for all of your support!

WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING SHARED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

We use all kinds of things to decorate our all-natural holiday wreaths.  Sure, we have some old standbys like pine cones, but every year we’re surprised by someone [...]]]>

We’re well underway in the 2011 holiday wreath sale.  That means we’re busily gathering materials – in fact we started collecting some things months ago.

We use all kinds of things to decorate our all-natural holiday wreaths.  Sure, we have some old standbys like pine cones, but every year we’re surprised by someone bringing in materials we haven’t used before, and we often can’t get enough of them.  We love getting new materials to try!  There’s an almost-endless supply of local plant materials if you look with a creative eye.  To get you started, here’s an A to Z list of wreath decorations ideas. 

What can you collect and get to us by mid-November?

Acorns; apples, sliced & dried; artemisia, dried
Baby’s breath; bay leaves
Cones from all sizes & types of pine, spruce & fir
Dried flowers of almost any type
Eucalyptus leaves, dried
Fir cones; feathers
Grasses and their seed heads (shake to remove the seeds); globe amaranth flowers, dried; gourds, small, dried
Hydrangea flower heads, dried; holly branches
Indian corn, tiny;
Juniper branches

Kalanchoe flowers, dried; kiwis, dried
Locust seed pods; beautiful dried leaves from trees & shrubs; lavender, dried

Money plant seed pods (also called silver dollar, honesty plant, lunaria, and other names); milkweed seed pods
Nigella seed heads (also called love-in-a-mist)
Ostrich fern spore stems; oregano seed heads, dried; orange slices, dried

Pearly everlasting, dried; peppers, red & dried (think chilies, banana peppers, cherry peppers)
Queen Anne’s lace, dried
Roses, dried; rose hips; red twig dogwood; Russian statice
Statice; Siberian iris seed pods; straw flowers
Teasel; thistle; tansy flower heads, dried; twigs from curly or other interestingly-shaped plants
Unusual flowers, seeds, plants, or twigs – all dried
Vines with interesting shapes, with or without dried leaves, flowers, or berries
Winterberry branches with fruit; wheat (shake to remove seeds)

Xtraordinary, xceptional, or xciting natural items you notice (I took some spelling liberties)
Yarrow, particularly brightly colored, dried; yellow twig dogwood
Zinnia flowers, dried

Let us know if you need us to make pickup arrangements.

So here’s a picture of wreaths being decorated as well as one of a finished beauty.

There’s still a few days to order one for this year, but call or email me [...]]]>

Laura so appropriately suggested that I post a picture of our finished wreaths. Why didn’t I think of that?!

So here’s a picture of wreaths being decorated as well as one of a finished beauty.

There’s still a few days to order one for this year, but call or email me SOON — director(at)pfeiffernaturecenter(dot)com — to get yours!

All wreath sale proceeds support Pfeiffer Nature Center programs.

Peg