Category Archives: Decorating

Holiday Hours & Merry Wishes ✨🎄

We hope you’ve all been getting your holiday plans in order – it’s a hectic time of year, but it feels so good to get everything planned out and set for the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays.

We’re nearing the end of the season now and wanted to let you know our upcoming holiday hours:

Closed December 24th through December 30th

Open New Year’s Eve, December 31st, 9am-1pm

Closed New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2025

Re-Open Thursday, January 2nd 2025

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

Please don’t hesitate to come see us these last few days for anything you might need for your holiday table or for gifts.

Don’t Forget Your Winter Arrangements

We’ve been so happy to get some rain this week! We even have a poppy blooming in our front planter—a testament to how hardy they are. Even 23-degree temperatures don’t phase them! We’re hoping to have more poppy plants in soon. Meanwhile, it is time to sow seeds, and we still have some available on our seed rack.

We’re still waiting on more pansies and violas to be large enough to be shipped from our local grower’s greenhouses. Don’t worry, though; when the time is right, we’ll have them in stock again and more companion plants as well. We’re so lucky to have winter gardens, aren’t we?

The holiday season has been keeping us busy in the greenhouse creating beautiful containers and gifts. Thank you all for choosing us for your special arrangements for the people you love. If you need centerpieces or gifts for Christmas or Hanukkah, please come in soon.

Enjoy these rainy days, and we’ll see you soon!

Thanksgiving Arrangements 🍁🦃

Next week is Thanksgiving, and we know you’ve been planning your menu… remember, we can help with the centerpiece! Just bring in a container of yours for us to fill with plants, or browse through our offerings. Please be sure to get your order in soon though, so we can take the best care of you. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Our select grower of quality pansies and violas is working on a new crop of these cool-season beauties. They’ll be available soon, so we’ll have a good selection for any of you still looking to finish up your winter plantings. The temperatures this week should be perfect for them—and us!

We’re getting excited about the offerings we’ll have through the upcoming season. Garlands, mantel pieces, wreaths, and bunches of greenery are just the beginning of the options that will be available. It might look a little different without the Christmas trees, but we hope you’ll enjoy your experience here even more!

We’ll be able to continue to keep perennials, herbs, and all the wonderful ornamental greens—think mustards, kale, chard, and more—in stock this year. We also still have some beautiful camellias and other shrubs, including juniper and boxwood topiaries, for any larger containers you have.

This week, we’re also getting a truckload of rosemary topiaries, trees, and other evergreens from a new supplier. We weren’t able to carry these in years past, so we hope you’ll check them out, too.

We look forward to seeing you soon and hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

From Pansies to Pecans: Seasonal Essentials for Your Garden and Pantry

A customer came in the other day saying she’d been waiting to plant her pansies until it got colder. Well, this week fits the bill, so if you haven’t planted your planters and beds yet, it’s time!

This week, we’ll be getting in more veggies that are good for eating and ornamental, too. These include chards, mustards, and beets. If you haven’t tried them in your pots or beds, give them a go and see what you think.

Another plant many of you may not have tried yet is acorus. It goes out fast because the upright grass–like leaves add a different shape and good color to containers. This week we’ll be getting in white and green variegated and the gold acorus.

Bulbs are still available, but you need to purchase them soon. Remember, tulips must be chilled, away from any fruit, in your refrigerator for at least 6 weeks prior to planting. (You’re making them think they’re going through winter.) Though daffodils don’t need chilling, they will benefit from being planted when the soil is cold so they don’t begin growing too soon.

Our holiday food shipments have begun to come in, and it’s time to stock up! Cheese hooies can be frozen for use later as hostess gifts if you don’t eat them all first! Peanut and pecan brittle, pepper jelly and other jams, a new offering, squash relish (Delish!), and more are available now. Gather what you’d like and let us create a gift bag for friends and neighbors!

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon.

Embrace Fall with Pumpkins and Gourds: Your Seasonal Inspiration Starts Here! 🎃🍂

As the temperatures finally start to dip, we can’t help but smile and say, “We’re so lucky to work outside!” This is the time of year we’ve been waiting for—when pumpkins, gourds, and all those autumn decorating staples make their grand entrance.

For a classic and easy display, try grouping pumpkins and gourds along your front steps. Choose a mix of colors, shapes, and sizes to create a welcoming, layered look that draws the eye. Add in some potted mums or trailing ivy for extra fall flair. It’s an effortless way to showcase the beauty of the season right at your doorstep!

For something simpler, try stacking pumpkins in front of your home. Mix up the colors, or keep it monochrome for a clean look. Add some moss between the layers for an extra touch, and suddenly you’ve got the most welcoming entrance in the neighborhood!

And let’s not forget about those mini gourds—they’re perfect for cozy spots like your bedside table, coffee table, or as part of a fun tablescape. Surround them with angelvine or moss, and you’ve got a beautiful, nature-inspired display.

Whether you’re creating gifts or centerpieces, there are endless ways to get creative with the various sizes, shapes, and textures of gourds and pumpkins. Pair them with organic accents like lichen, branches, or even other organic elements for a personal touch. (One of our favorite customers even brings us fallen acorns to use—talk about thoughtful!)

And, yes, our succulent-topped pumpkins are back! If you’re local and want to grab one, give us a call. They won’t last long! 🌿🎃

Autumn Arrivals: Pumpkins, Fresh Blooms, and Seasonal Updates

Pumpkins & Gourds

Fall is here, and to prove it, our first loads of all things Autumn have arrived. We have the most beautiful pumpkins and gourds for your decorating needs, for adorning a porch, or for creating groupings at your front entrance. Come see our selection – the colors and shapes are amazing, and we’ll continue adding to it as the season progresses.

Petunias

We know many of you have had difficulty keeping your plantings looking good through August. But not to worry; this is normal. As we mentioned in a previous post, fresh marigolds, and cosmos have been available to remedy this dire situation. Now, we can also add celosia and petunias to the mix, herbs, and other annuals and perennials.

Unfortunately, it is too early to plant pansies and violas, as the temperatures need to be consistently cooler for them to be happy and do well. We anticipate getting the first shipments of them at the beginning of October.

We are so thankful for the recent rains and hope your landscape has benefited from them.

Ozzy & Liam

Finally, if you are in the neighborhood, please keep a lookout for Liam and give him some extra love… We lost his buddy Ozzie a short time ago to cancer, and we’re all still missing him tremendously. Liam and he were very close, and we know he’s grieving too. Thank you for your love and support of our special fur baby.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon!

Fall Inspiration With Pumpkins And Gourds As A New Season Begins

That’s when we look at each other and say, “We are so lucky to work outside!” We’ve been looking forward to this, and with the arrival of pumpkins, gourds, and fall decorating staples, we are willing the temperatures to fall.

The hanging “platforms” shown here a couple years ago were used to create a pumpkin/gourd garden in the air.

We envisioned them as an elevated centerpiece for a party, hanging on a screened-in or covered porch area, or simply set in the perfect place to spotlight the abundance of the season.

There are so many varied sizes, shapes and textures of gourds and pumpkins that can be used alone or with plants for centerpieces and gifts.

Simply gather those you like, being sure to get enough of a selection. With so many to choose from, it’s more than likely you’ll gather more than you need!

We use all manner of organic materials to complement them and have a customer who brings us beautiful fallen acorns to use. We add lichen, mosses, branches, burlap, and ribbon too, depending on the container.

Our succulent topped pumpkins will be making a return for the season as well. Those shown here are some from past seasons. If you’re in the area and would like one, give us a call!

Stacking pumpkins is a popular way to display them in front of your house.

Simply find two or three that are different colors (or the same!), stack them as is or add another element like moss between them, and, voila, you have a beautiful entrance for the season.

We are just beginning to work with the small gourds that can be grouped together in containers for tablescapes, on bedside tables in guest rooms, or on coffee tables. Make a nest of angelvine or moss and position them however you like them.

Our pumpkin supplier comes weekly with the best assortments hand picked for us. We hope you’ll stop in if you’re in the area! Our pumpkins will be arriving soon!

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you’ve no doubt seen the videos we’ve been doing, or we hope you have! Follow us there or you can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel – it’s under Oak Street Garden Shop. Thanks for watching!

By Kris Blevons

Creating A Grapevine Winter Wreath With Nature’s Offerings

Grapevine wreaths offer rustic beauty any time of the year. We had a few still in stock from the holidays, and I decided to dress this one up with lichen, birch bark, moss, and branches to make it a wintry white wreath full of texture and color.

Birch bark is a favorite to work with, and it brings back fond memories of family camping trips in the upper midwest with my family. The papery white bark seemed to glow in the afternoon light, a beautiful sight through all the seasons in the northern woods.

The birch tears easily and can be curled through the wreath or glued on as well. I worked three pieces onto the grapevine fashioning a “bow” of sorts and added smaller pieces halfway around the grapevine, gluing and tying them in place.

Branches covered in lichen and moss are another favorite design element, and we still had a few beautiful ones that I placed onto the grapevine next. Once those were attached, it still needed a few more pieces of lichen in spots, but it was almost complete.

Finally I tucked some dark green reindeer moss where I thought it needed a bit of color, and for a finishing touch slipped a few popcorn stems into the grapevine to add a pop of white.

If you want to try a project like this, remember that nature always offers the best decorative elements, and you just might find them in your own back yard. Don’t want to make your own? Come see us if you’d like one of ours!

By Kris Blevons

Making Our Way Through Another Holiday Season

There hasn’t been much time to write lately, so with this post I hope to catch you up with a bit of what’s been going on at Oak Street Garden Shop.

The day before Thanksgiving the first truckload of Fraser fir Christmas trees arrived, and all hands were on deck to unload and begin setting them up for sale, pick-up, or delivery.

This year the trees (As usual!) were beautiful and full, and they disappeared quickly. Because Thanksgiving was early this year, many wanted to select their tree and begin decorating. We were ready and had the goods!

The trees, wreaths, garlands, and other outdoor decorating staples are the first things people want as they begin to ready their homes for the holidays.

It’s a predictable progression of decorating, beginning outside and then moving inside. Our greenhouse flowers and arrangements are in high demand through

the middle of the month, and we make sure to have enough of the most beautiful flowers and greenery to work with.

Gifts and centerpieces come last, and we enjoy creating custom pieces for people, either with our containers or theirs.

This post shows some of our work, but if you’re in the area and would like to see what we’re up to, stop in, as our work area is right up front.

We’ll be taking some time off after the Christmas holiday and hope you’re able to do the same. If you’re signed up for our weekly emails on this website, they’ll be monthly January – March and will resume each week beginning April, 2019. Holiday Hours: Dec. 23-27 Closed; Dec. 28-29 Open; Dec. 30 Closed; Dec 31 Open; Jan 1, 2019 Closed

By Kris Blevons

Cat Proofing the Sign Planter

This year was the worst. Because of the drought the sign planter stayed unplanted from November through January, and the cats noticed, notably Liam. There’s nothing worse than standing out front, helping a customer and seeing your cat, out of the corner of your eye, doing his business…ohhhhhh it was getting more and more agravating.

I didn’t want to plant pansies, simply because I wanted to have as many as possible for our customers. So, when some iceland poppies in cell pack flats became available, I grabbed a flat and planted them in the offending spot.

I wish I could say Liam took the hint. He did not. So, this past Saturday I took matters into my hands again, vowing to do all I could to keep him out. I’d already snatched him up repeatedly, toting him to the back of the greenhouse where the two litter boxes (cleaned religiously for them) resided. He would only hop out, give me a baleful look, and avoid me the rest of the day.

I had figured out my strategy the day before, and, on a sunny but cool Saturday morning, I got to work. Bert gathered pine cones from the side garden (I told him I needed a lot of them.). I pulled some tall, loose stems of the red twig dogwood and cut them to various lengths. There was a pot of washed pea gravel in the greenhouse, and I brought that outside too.

Bert began placing the pine cones between the tiny poppy plants, clustering them in various spots. When he had placed them all, I began arranging the red twig dogwood throughout the planter. This will fix him, I thought. Once the stems were in place, the pea gravel was distributed between the pinecones and branches, and, finally, a few faux fern fiddleheads were placed on either end.

Voila!!! A (hopefully) cat-proof planter. I will report back on how it worked.

By Kris Blevons

Decorated Pumpkins

It all began with my Mother’s 85th birthday in early October. She has macular degeneration and would rather stay close to home now.

Since I am in Birmingham and she is in Wisconsin, unfortunately, with this a busy time in the garden shop business, getting together on her birthday doesn’t happen anymore.

But she is on Facebook. I decided a couple of years ago to get her a Nook that she could use to listen to audio books, thinking it would be a perfect way to open her world. It also allows her, through Facebook, to see pictures of the garden shop and my garden. It has been a joy for her, and I’m thrilled!

So, with this in mind, I decided to decorate a pumpkin for her birthday and put a picture of me holding it on her timeline as her birthday gift from me. I’d seen lots of pictures of succulents on pumpkins (more on that later), but I wanted something bright and happy from me to her on her milestone day.

I chose a bright orange jack-o-lantern pumpkin, glued some cut flowers of gomphrena and mums to it along with a couple of okra pods, added a few succulents, and tucked moss around the edge. I even cut a couple of tiny hosta leaves. Voila, the birthday pumpkin was born.

A few days later a customer came in with a picture of the aforementioned succulent topped pumpkins. They’ve been everywhere the last few years, in magazines and various places on line.

Easy to do but requiring lots of cut succulents, I’d stayed clear of getting into the making of them. I dutifully tried to emulate the white pumpkins in her picture with the succulents we had on hand.

When they were finished, I set them on the display steps up front, where people could see them, and decided to make a few more. Here’s how they turned out. We had a few more orders that day as people saw them!

if you’d like to make a succulent topped pumpkin, choose a pumpkin and have fun! Any kind of moss can be used. I chose green sheet moss, gluing it to the top of the pumpkin.

Purchase or take cuttings from succulents you might have growing in your garden or pots and simply glue them to the moss. Succulent experts advise misting the cuttings once a week.

It’s also fun to add other decorative elements like the okra pods I used on my Mom’s pumpkin. Try tiny pinecones, acorns, and more to add interest. It’s only limited by your imagination!

If you’re in the area, and would like us to decorate a pumpkin for you, stop in and place an order!

By Kris Blevons

Decorating For Fall With Pumpkins And Gourds

Even if the temperatures have been slow to reflect fall, we are determined to celebrate a change of season.

The arrival of so many pumpkins and gourds in all sizes, shapes, and colors spur us on in our quest for the perfect choices for arranging in containers or to artfully stack at the front door.

Each year begins the same, with the first shipment unloaded and carefully placed, separated by variety. Long Island Cheese, Jharadales, Lumina, Fairytale and Cinderella pumpkins, Turk’s Turbans and the wonderfully bumpy Lunch Lady gourds (Yes, they’re really called lunch ladies!) and more, all neatly set out.

Soon though, usually beginning with the second large delivery, all semblance of order gets tossed out the window, as we place pumpkin after pumpkin wherever we can find a spot.

That’s really how I like it best, with piles of orange, green, blue, cream, and white pumpkins creating a jumble of chaotic color in all shapes and sizes. It’s difficult to choose just one!

The cats soon discover new places to nap underneath and In the shade of the raised platforms we use for display of this beautiful fall harvest, coming out only when little ones spy them at eye level.

Long, vining stems of bittersweet hang above, another decorative staple of the season. For over 25 years they’ve been hand cut for us from our North Carolina supplier high in the mountains.

Mini pumpkins and tiny gourds find homes in all manner of containers, nestled in beds of moss and angel vine, or carefully arranged to look as though they were casually placed.

Usually these designs come together easily, but sometimes it takes more than a few tries to get it just right. We are all perfectionists!

Please stop in and celebrate the season with us. Even if you just come to look, we usually have something fun to see that we’re either working on or have completed in our design area right up front. Know someone that needs a pick me up? Bring them along!

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you’ve probably seen a new series of shop videos – if not, follow us and check them out! They’re also on our YouTube channel under Oak Street Garden Shop – if you’d like to see more, subscribe!

By Kris Blevons

A Flag For The Fourth

Last year’s massive “Botanical Fireworks” Fourth of July project was pretty hard to top. This year we went a little smaller, and had some fun creating this tabletop botanical “flag”. So far it’s made its way onto Facebook and Instagram, and after this post publishes I’ll put it on Pinterest too. How did we manage years ago without all this social media? They were simpler times, that’s for sure.

Ingredients for our flag project included blooms cut from the bleeding heart vine (Clerodendron) growing around our entrance, kalanchoe, vinca, dipladenia, euphorbia, and geranium petals, cotton bolls and blueberries (We couldn’t resist eating some!)

Happy Fourth of July!!

By Kris Blevons

Unplanned Blessings Begin the Holiday Season…

Photo – Jamie Cross

There was a beautiful full moon over Crestline Village last week. Perhaps it had something to do with a perfect storm of events that caused shipment delays of some of our wreaths and greenery, including the ever popular boxwood wreaths.

Jamie called me the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. I knew something was going on since it wasn’t the usual text. “Hey, what’s up?” I asked. She paused, then gave me the bad news. “The boxwood wreath supplier says they never got your orders.” I sank into the nearest chair. “Whaaat??!?? That can’t be!!” I’d left work earlier that day confident Derek would be making the trip to the airport to pick up the first of two orders I’d placed in July, one scheduled to arrive that day and the second a week after.

Bunches of Magnolia…

At that moment the pressure of the holiday retail season suddenly hit me, and I was as close to coming apart as I’ve ever been in my 24 years in this crazy business. Though we had plenty of other wreaths, including fir and beautiful wreaths made out of southern greenery, garland, and bunches of magnolia for people to get their decorating started, I felt the weight of not having an item that customers might want that weekend and could possibly find elsewhere.

Southern Greenery Wreath…

“We can ship your first order Monday, and the second a day or so after,” I was told. Well that was far better than I thought I’d be hearing, but the relief was tempered, knowing that I was responsible for a mixup that shouldn’t have happened, and an entire weekend would go by before the shipment would arrive.

Just breathe, I told myself. It will be alright. Monday is only the 30th of November after all! But I know the rush to decorate and the overall craziness this time of year meant some people would not be happy, and that’s what I dreaded more than anything. Just last week I was telling everyone to try to relax and enjoy the season, and yet here I was, near tears and so upset I was practically hyperventilating. It was time to take my own advice.

Southern Greenery – Wreaths…

Prior to this news, I’d been trying to find out the location of another greenery shipment that had shipped but still hadn’t arrived. I’d found out earlier in the day that, because of weather and trucking company issues, it had been delayed by weather in Colorado, and wouldn’t come in until Monday, again, after the weekend.

The funny thing? Just a week or so earlier a customer had told me she really wished I could talk to my suppliers so the wreaths and greenery wouldn’t come in so early. I’m tempted to call her and let her know the boxwood wreaths she’d like me to pull will probably come in the very day she wants them.

Fraser Fir Wreaths in All Sizes…

So begins another December. It will surely end on a better note than it has begun, and I know our customers will understand we’re doing the best we can, and that some days are definitely better than others.

The good news is that since the weather has been so warm it’s probably just as well we didn’t have the boxwood wreaths and greenery so early. Unplanned blessings, indeed!

And thankfully, the boxwood wreaths are here now, along with lots of greenery bunches, mantle pieces and berry stems, and at just the right time. In fact, there are so many boxes we’re still working on unpacking it all!

Here’s hoping all of you enjoy this holiday season no matter what curveballs get thrown your way. In the end, we all need to remember the most important things in our lives are family and good friends, happiness and health, peace, and good will to all…

By Kris Blevons

Molly’s Wedding – One Of Our “Family” Gets Married At Oak Street Garden Shop!

Tithonia and Larkspur…

Saturday, October 10th, 2015, was a magical, musical night. On this cool fall evening, Molly, a member of our Oak Street Garden Shop family for ten years, was married under white twinkling lights, surrounded by a circle of family and friends.

Flowers in Driftwood…

Earlier in the year she’d become engaged to V, aka Chuck. Not long after this, she came to me saying she’d really love to get married at the shop and did I think the owner would be okay with it.

‘African Blue’ Basil Blooms…

Oh, that would be wonderful, I thought, and, certainly, Billy would say yes. I asked if they had a date in mind. October 10th, she answered. Oh, a fall wedding…how lovely it would be!

Of course, Billy did say yes, after cautioning the shop would be fully stocked since that would be in the middle of the fall pansy season. Well, that would make it even prettier, we thought!

Molly and her mom, Dená, another 10 year employee, made it perfectly clear they didn’t want to cause any trouble or difficulty, and we knew they meant what they said. From my perspective this wedding was a joy from beginning to end.

The cake would be set up here…

There wasn’t that much for us to do, really. Molly, her mom, and family took care of the planning, and each guest was asked to bring a dish. It would be a relaxed night, full of music, laughter, and dancing just as Molly wanted.

The bouquet…

Specifically, Celtic music and Irish dancing. Molly had taught Irish dance for a number of years, and many of her dancing friends and students would be at her wedding. So the bands Jasper Coal, Vulcan Eejits, and singer Beth Wetheral provided beautiful, lyrical, and at times, boisterous music amid the many guests.

We worked steadily through the day…

Of course, my interest prior to the ceremony was the shop and the flowers and creating a beautiful setting for Molly and V’s nuptials.

Jamie ordered sunflowers, larkspur and other flowers from the wholesale house and brought perennial sunflowers and zinnias from her garden. The Better Late Than Never Garden offered up bright orange tithonia and colorful zinnias, and we cut purple gomphrena and ‘African Blue’ basil blooms from the sign planter in front of the shop.

Setting the flowers out…

Molly contributed blooming miscanthus, Pinkie cut dahlias and a long section of climbing fern from her home, and I brought leucothoe, sea oats, and golden chamaecyparis out of my yard to use in colorful bouquets we placed in driftwood pieces. These we arranged on the red market tables. They’d be on either side of Molly as she walked down the “aisle”.

Jamie designed two beautiful flowered clips for her hair and a loose bouquet of sunflowers, zinnias, gomphrena, and greenery for her to carry down the aisle.

Cupcakes on handmade wood stands – a wedding gift…

Jamie, Molly, and myself worked steadily most of the day on the flowers, and the rest of the staff of Angie, Pinkie, Danielle, Bert, and Ben really stepped up their game too, taking care of most of the customers since the shop was open until 5:30 on a busy day and the wedding would be at 7:00. It was truly a group effort.

Finally the time came, guests began to arrive, and we scrambled to get changed from work clothes to something more fitting for a wedding. In the tiny office, with the door screened by a blanket and Danielle helping with her hair and makeup, Molly was transformed from a garden shop worker bee into a beautiful bride.

Her wedding dress, in rich brown chiffon, had been hand-sewn by her mother, Dená. And what a beautiful dress! On it she’d painted an entire colorful flower garden along front, complete with several butterflies and bees.

A Painted Garden…

Her inspiration had been the ‘Better Late Than Never’ pollinator garden across the street from the shop, and the exquisite painting incorporated all the flowers in it – sunflowers, tithonia, zinnias, gomphrena, and more. It was truly a work of art, and Molly looked beautiful in it!

Finally it was time! Everyone gathered around the groom and family members standing under the arch marking the entrance to the nursery.

Then Molly came into view from the greenhouse, entering the circle of friends and relatives standing under hundreds of tiny white lights. There, in a beautiful ceremony incorporating the Irish tying of the knot, Molly and V took their vows.

After, as the music played on and laughter filled the air, everyone danced and sang the night away. A beautiful cool evening in October had indeed turned out to be the perfect night for a wedding.

By Kris Blevons

: Molly and Billy Angell…

Old Windows…Repurposed Into Wall Art

The old window had been kicking around for a few years, and we’d done a beautiful succulent planting in it. Bert had even built a planting box onto it so the plants would have more room to grow. It hung in the greenhouse for a few seasons and gave folks lots of ideas for their own vertical plantings.

During a greenhouse spring makeover the window planting was taken down. It was propped against a wall by the clay pots where it sat all spring. Finally this summer it was emptied out since the planting looked a bit worse for wear by this point.

Some plants had done better than others. Those were repotted, the frame was completely emptied of soil, and the bare frame and planting box stored behind the greenhouse. I eyed it one hot summer day, and, having just seen some beautiful wall art …Was it on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest? I can’t remember now. But the bug had bit me, and I decided to create a wall piece using dried plant material, twigs, fabric, anything textural I could find. I had a summer project!

The first pictures show this first window turned out. It took quite a bit of time, and materials including fabric, dried sunflower seed heads, cotton bolls, birch bark, and much more. Everything is hot glued to a base of fabric and burlap. It was quite the project!

A few months later my friend from Studio By The Tracks, Ila Faye Miller, mentioned she had some old windows they didn’t want any more. Fresh off my last project, I said we’d love to have them. One in particular caught my eye, a half-round window, called a lunette. I’d had so much fun creating the last window art piece I’d decided I wanted to make another.

Back at the shop, each triangular pane of glass was removed, and a fresh coat of paint was applied to freshen the old window up. Pieces of burlap were stapled to the back, creating a base that the okra pods, cork bark and other textural pieces would be glued to. Many hours later it was finished. The old window had a new purpose.

By Kris Blevons

More Holiday Inspiration – Arrangements, Flowers and Greens – Part 2

Redtwig dogwood stems echo the red of this striking bowl, filled with rieger begonias, amaryllis and ferns…

Simply hydrangeas…

Holiday Arrangement - Close-Up- Lady Slipper Orchi, Air Plants

Lady slipper orchid…

The greenhouse is literally overflowing with so many flowers we’ve had to move most of them onto the tables outside.

Traditional red poinsettias…

Holiday Arrangement - Shooting Star Hydrangea,Amaryllis, Curly Willow

With curly willow, cinnamon sticks and cut greens…

Many of these holiday flowers – hydrangeas, amaryllis, paperwhites, azaleas, stephanotis, flowering jasmine, and cyclamen – prefer the cool temperatures. It works out well, unless temperatures drop below freezing; then the nursery carts are loaded up and they’re moved back into the warmth of the greenhouse.

Phalaenopsis orchid in mercury glass with cut greens and berries...

Jamie added cut greens and berries to this phalaenopsis orchid in a Mercury glass container…

Orchids and air plants…

Holiday Arrangement - Amaryllis, Shooting Star Hydrangea, Fantail Willow

Amaryllis, hydrangea, jasmine…

Holiday Orchid Arrangement with Phalaenopsis Orchids and Jasmine

A gift of orchids and jasmine…

There it’s a riot of color, with orchids seemingly in every nook and cranny, trays of ferns and other foliage plants in abundance, and of course, poinsettias too. It’s a crazy, slightly chaotic time of the year!

The two weeks prior to Christmas find us focused on projects big and small in the design area, and there’s not much time for anything else.

A tiny pot with cut greens…

We’ll put plants in just about anything, including porcelain and glazed bowls, mercury glass containers, pots of every size and shape, jardinieres, wooden boxes, dough bowls, silver pieces and everything else imaginable. You can too!

First, the Christmas Trees Arrive…

Sugar Pinecones…

I know the holiday season is here when the greenery bunches, garlands and wreaths we’ve ordered begin to appear – not to mention fragrant Fraser fir Christmas trees. I was looking forward to two of the boxes in particular this year – the ones the huge sugar pine cones were packed in, just 30 to a box because they’re so big.

Ribbon and Greenery added to a Sugar Pinecone…

Take a look in any craft magazine or on Pinterest and you’ll find plenty of decorating being done with these Northwest beauties! There hasn’t been much time for us to play with these big pinecones, but I was able to add a bit of ribbon and some greenery to a couple before it got too busy. A beautiful collection of these impressive cones in a large basket, with a bit of reindeer moss tucked between and curls of ribbon for more color, would be festive too.

There’s a definite progression of the holiday season that I’ve noticed over the many years in this business, and, for no other reason than I’ve observed this phenomenon, here it is:

Alabama Cryptomeria Wreaths…

First the Christmas trees, outdoor garlands, and wreaths arrive, bringing the scent of the Carolina mountains to Birmingham. The trees are the stars of the show for a couple of weeks, and the buzz of tree drills and saws fill the air.

Families arrive to find their perfect tree among the 700 that are drilled for our tree stands and given a fresh cut before they’re moved out for sale. Bows for wreaths and other outdoor decorations are debated and chosen, and mailbox decorations are ordered.

Slowly but surely the outdoor decisions are made, trees are delivered, and festive decorations for inside and outdoors are complete. Now the emphasis shifts to the greenhouse, a magical place during Christmas, full of pretty flowering plants and more, and we begin the party season. Containers fill the back design area, waiting to be transformed into beautiful arrangements ready on just the right date. Finally, closest to Christmas, teacher’s gifts and gifts for family are arranged, to be picked up just before the end of school or prior to leaving town.

Orchids, Ferns, Ivy, Hydrangeas in Pretty Pots

Finished Arrangements…

Our Grinch…

In fact, this year we had to make more room for finished pieces in front of the design area. Our new area has worked out well, since now it’s easier for everyone to see many of the finished centerpieces, pots, and special orders, and it gives people ideas for their own gifts or containers.

There’s another new addition this year too. Tacca, our garden shop cat, is experiencing her first holiday season and is she enjoying it! She’s taken to sitting in our Christmas display, right in the line of sight of all the children, who come in to pet her while they look at Santa and his elves. This year Molly created our wonderful grinch too.

More Arrangements…

While Fraser fir scents fill the outside nursery, the greenhouse is truly a feast for the senses too, filled with colorful flowers and lights.

Here you’ll find orchids, amaryllis, jasmine, stephonotis, hydrangeas, rieger begonias and more, including the usual poinsettias. There’s really nothing like a true greenhouse, devoted almost entirely to plants of the season. Box stores with their fluorescent lights and a few holiday plants simply can’t compare. I hope you’ll come visit and see why.

The End Of The Season…Fall Arrangements

A reindeer moss wreath, with burlap and pods…

A copper planter for a table. Jamie’s colorful fall design of chartreuse, orange and white…

Autumn passes far too quickly. As usual, when a season is nearing the end, I find myself wishing I’d made the time to take more pictures of the many arrangements that we’ve created the past few weeks. Jamie, Molly, and I looked through those we had and here are a few of them – a simple goodbye to the autumn season for another year as we set our sights ahead to the holidays.

A vignette Jamie created with an orchid, sedum, tiny pumpkins and more…

Pinkie used little white pumpkins, succulents, and bittersweet in a dough bowl...

Pinkie used little white pumpkins, succulents, and bittersweet in this dough bowl…

This simple tray became home to a gourd, mushrooms and moss, with Heuchera and autumn Fern adding more rich color...

My simple tray became home to a gourd, mushrooms and moss, with Heuchera and Autumn Fern adding more rich color…

A dough bowl Jamie designed…

Fall is a favorite time, as the materials we work with are so interesting and organic. There’s none of the shiny, glittery, in-your-face glitz that will be here, oh, so soon enough, with the approach of Christmas. No, this time of year is quieter, as we embrace the down-to-earth beauty of mushrooms, soft green moss, natural branches, dark wiry angelvine, pods of all kinds, and interesting gourds. I enjoy the combinations that result, melded at times with the muted tones of burlap and raffia.

Molly’s spirited fall arrangement with bright yellow Oncidium orchids…

I really enjoyed creating this “woodsy” piece…

For a fall luncheon..

Oncidium Orchid 'Twinkle' Arrangement With Okra Pods and Pinecones

Oncidium ‘Twinkle’ in a sweet combination of Jamie’s. Okra pods and pinecones add even more texture…

My simple lady slipper orchid arrangement, watched over by pretty Tacca, our garden shop kitty…

Dená carved this pretty blue pumpkin and daughter, Molly, planted it…

We see such interesting pieces in the fall too. Earthy dough bowls, dark metal planters and copper containers, low wooden trays just perfect for mossy vignettes, a majolica bowl the right size and shape for a woodsy arrangement. Soon enough we’ll be making quite different sorts of combinations through the holidays, with quite different materials. For now though, I’m content to enjoy these last few days of fall.

A colorful fall piece Molly created using houseplants and mini pumpkins...

A final fall piece Molly created using houseplants and mini pumpkins…

Succulent Wreaths For The Holidays

Succulent wreaths might not be what one thinks of first as a component of holiday decorating, but these pretty echeveria wreaths just might change your mind. The best thing about these wreaths is that there is room for the little echeverias to grow, and this also makes them easier to take care of through the winter months.

The wreaths are just about 10″ in diameter and can just as easily be laid flat on a table and made part of a holiday tablescape as hung. Though they’re beautiful just as they are, adding other elements is easy to do. The one shown here was “dressed up” with small loops of a pretty, sheer ribbon, tiny pine cones, and small tufts of real cotton.

The echeverias in these wreaths have been planted in a sphagnum moss wreath form and will continue to grow with the proper care. Give them as much direct light as possible, and, when the wreaths feel very light when lifted, it’s time to water. Place them in a shallow pan filled with a few inches of water and leave them in it for at least 30 minutes or until the form feels heavy, indicating it’s saturated. Do not water again until it feels very light once more. Remember, succulents prefer to be on the dry side.

Loops of ribbon and tiny pinecones embellish this echeveria wreath…

These sweet wreaths are in limited supply, so, if you’re interested in trying one, now is the time to stop in and take a look. On their own or “dressed up”, what a lovely, unexpected, and long lasting addition to your holiday decor!

Oak Street Garden Shop and Local Market

Voted "Best Garden Shop in Birmingham" for quality plants, creativity, and excellent customer service

Category Archives: Decorating

Holiday Hours & Merry Wishes ✨🎄

Don’t Forget Your Winter Arrangements

Thanksgiving Arrangements 🍁🦃

From Pansies to Pecans: Seasonal Essentials for Your Garden and Pantry

Embrace Fall with Pumpkins and Gourds: Your Seasonal Inspiration Starts Here! 🎃🍂

Autumn Arrivals: Pumpkins, Fresh Blooms, and Seasonal Updates

Fall Inspiration With Pumpkins And Gourds As A New Season Begins

Creating A Grapevine Winter Wreath With Nature’s Offerings

Making Our Way Through Another Holiday Season

Cat Proofing the Sign Planter

Decorating For Fall With Pumpkins And Gourds

A Flag For The Fourth

Unplanned Blessings Begin the Holiday Season…

Molly’s Wedding – One Of Our “Family” Gets Married At Oak Street Garden Shop!

Old Windows…Repurposed Into Wall Art

More Holiday Inspiration – Arrangements, Flowers and Greens – Part 2

First, the Christmas Trees Arrive…

The End Of The Season…Fall Arrangements

Succulent Wreaths For The Holidays