December is around the corner, which means it’s time for holiday decorating. And today Cherry Ong is sharing some of her incredible holiday wreath creations. She combines basic wreaths with materials gathered from her garden and purchased to make these marvelous custom creations. If you want to try your hand at making your own wreaths with materials from your garden, you can get your inspiration here, and learn the technique in this video: Make a Holiday Wreath.

A magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora, Zones 7–10) and snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus, Zones 3–7) wreath. Amazingly the snowberries lasted through and beyond the season.

Ingredients: Fraser fir wreath, magnolia leaves, snowberry clusters, seeded eucalyptus, pine branches, white branches, and an apple-green velvet ribbon

A wreath with warm tones. Magnolia leaves direct the color choices for this wreath. I made the dried orange slices by baking them for 8 to 10 hours in a 200°F oven.

Ingredients: Fraser fir wreath, gold Ilex berries, spruce with pine cones (foraged after a windstorm), and dried orange slices

A juniper berry wreath decked with more berries.

Ingredients: Juniper berry wreath base, more juniper berries, beautyberry (Callicarpa) from the garden, foraged privet (Ligustrum) berries, seeded eucalyptus, silver bells eucalyptus, white branches

This year’s front-door wreath screams of warm colors with foraged Pyracantha berries and Thuja ‘Forever Goldie’ from the garden, seeded eucalyptus, eucalyptus, grevillea, rose hips, and Cornus ‘Arctic Fire’ branches on a Fraser fir wreath base.

Another red wreath, this time featuring Hypericum berries. This is one of the larger wreaths, and the base is made from discarded Christmas tree branches. I gave this to my godmother and her family.

Ingredients: Mixed fir wreath base, magnolia branches, red Hypericum berries with the foliage removed, foraged Norway spruce pinecones, seeded eucalyptus

A woodland-inspired wreath with foraged conk mushrooms, variegated Skimmia japonica ‘Magic Marlot’ from the garden, saved lichen and moss branches, and store-bought preserved mushrooms (they were sold as vase fillers). I thought sumac flowers would’ve made a perfect luxe addition to this wreath, but I didn’t find any. Maybe next time?

I wanted to create a natural wreath that didn’t shed or deteriorate indoors. I foraged pinecones over the years; some were bleached and some natural colored. I covered a cardboard wreath form with natural-colored reindeer moss before attaching different-size pinecones and added a satin ribbon.

Finally, here are some simple creations made from leftovers and late additions.

I love them at the garden entrances and gates.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

DeWalt Variable-Speed Cordless Reciprocating Saw

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

You can fit a variety of blades to this saw to cut fallen branches or prune larger limbs from trees in a pinch. It’s fast, tough, easy to use, and extremely versatile.
- 18.31 x 6.13 x 4 inches
- 1-1/8-inch stroke length
- Variable speed trigger with 0-3000 spm

Buy at Amazon

Spear & Jackson 4930FZ Razorsharp Telescopic Tree Pruner

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Telescopic tree pruner with SK5 carbon steel blade which stays sharper for longer. Variable length telescopic handle extends up to 92 Inch (2340mm). Lopper for cutting branches up to 1.2" (30mm). 13 inch (330mm) saw is ideal for cutting thicker branches. Supplied with a long cord and pull-action handle. Part of the Razorsharp Advantage collection, the obvious choice for gardeners who demand and expect precise, powerful performance. "Grow Your Own" Great British Growing 2020 Award Winners.

Buy at Amazon

Gardener's Log Book from NYBG

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features: · Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil · Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds · Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when · Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening · Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting · Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers.

Buy at Amazon