Category Archives: Holiday

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!

The Holiday Season is Here 🎁✨

It’s hard to believe it’s the beginning of December already, and before long, we’ll be celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and the New Year. Where does the time go?!??

Before that, though, we’ve got things to do! Our final shipment of magnolia garland, Fraser fir wreaths, specialty wreaths, and more arrived this week, as well as mantel pieces and bunches of greenery. It’s fun to see all the beautiful decorating being done around town!

If you need new bows for your wreaths or for indoor decorating, we have lots of ribbon available for sale by the yard or by the roll. We can also make bows for you out of our ribbon, so if you haven’t checked out the selection, it’s not too late.

If you like to plant your own paperwhites timed for Christmas bloom, we still have bulbs available—get them planted soon! We also have paperwhites already potted up and ready for gifts or for you!

Don’t forget about our delicious food offerings – they make great hostess gifts. We have Ginger Clark’s local honey in the cutest bottles, the best peanut brittle from Seven Winds Kitchen, and many more delectable foods they offer. We happen to think their cheese hooies are amazing!

We know it’s a hectic time of year, so thank you for taking a moment out of your busy day to read about what’s going on in our world.

Hope to see you soon.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours & Seasonal Gratitudes

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

This Thanksgiving we’re grateful for:
Customers who love plants – we love them too!
Our shop cat, Liam – and all of our visiting pups!
Changing seasons – which one is your favorite?
Rainy days – just when we need a little break
The beautiful things we get to create and are surrounded by every day – we are so fortunate!
And, of course,
All of YOU!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!

We will be open this Sunday from 12-4pm for your shopping needs the weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday, and our weekly hours are Monday – Saturday 9am-5:30pm. We have the freshest wreaths, swags, bows, and so much more for you! We’ll also do our very best to have things pre-made for last minute pickups. For everyone hosting parties, giving hostess gifts, or decorating, the greenhouse is filled with inspiration.

A reminder: Please give us ample time through the holiday season to design your containers/gifts, and remember, we deliver within the area!

Enjoy this holiday week, 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.

Amaryllis – Beauty In A Bulb

Amaryllis, unquestionably, are one of the most dramatic and elegant of flowers. That bold, beautiful blooms of all colors and sizes can emerge from such a drab, unassuming brown bulb is amazing. They are truly a wonder of nature!

Decorative moss and pebbles dress up this amaryllis bulb…

Amaryllis in the greenhouse…

Amaryllis arrangement…

So, you want to purchase an amaryllis bulb (or more than one) for yourself or as gifts for friends? First, you need to know that the size of the bulb corresponds to the size and amount of blooms. Their sizes range from “miniature” amaryllis bulbs to jumbo amaryllis and there are midsize bulbs as well.

Large blooms of this amaryllis offer a contrast to the fragrant jasmine…

Beware of gift boxes and bags already prepackaged. I’ve stopped carrying them because, inevitably, the bulb begins to grow in the box prior to purchase. Believe me, there’s nothing sadder than an amaryllis, stem bent toward the light, growing sideways out of a box. It’s just not right!

Potting them up is quite simple. Find a pot that is no more than an inch or so wider than the bulb and fill it with good quality potting soil (We use Fafard.) about half way up the pot. Next, position the bulb on the soil, pushing the roots firmly in place. The “shoulder”, or widest portion of the bulb, should be above the soil. Fill in around the bulb, push down gently, and water with some of the remaining manure tea.

The hardest part is the wait for the bud to begin to emerge. It may take just a few days in a warm, sunny room, but it can just as easily take longer. Amaryllis don’t always cooperate with our timetables. Take a look at this “Holiday Flowers” post from last year and you’ll see what I mean. When you do see new growth starting to emerge, begin to water just so the soil stays slightly moist and watch the magic happen! You can also “dress up” the top of the soil with decorative moss or pebbles.

In bloom amaryllis can get quite tall and will usually benefit from some type of staking. In addition to simple bamboo stakes, stems of red and yellow twig dogwood, birch, curly willow, or branches from your landscape can be used. Insert the staking material at the edge of the bulb and tie it with raffia or ribbon.

Amaryllis, budded, with ferns, and stems of pussywillow…

The pictures here show what we’ve done in the past using amaryllis. They make wonderful presents during the holiday season and simply watching the bloom stalk grow taller and the enormous buds begin to open is a gift in itself!

There’s also a video we’ve done on amaryllis available to watch on the Oak Street Garden Shop YouTube channel. If you enjoy it, subscribe for more!

In addition to bulbs that are available for you to plant, we also will be receiving many amaryllis already potted up from our growers. So, if you’re in the Birmingham area, there’s no excuse not to have one of these holiday favorites!

Floral “Fireworks” for the Fourth

This year’s floral “Fireworks”, created from flowers, leaves, and grasses from Kris’ garden.

Celebrating the beauty of nature and our nation’s independence 🇺🇸🎆

Enjoy!

A Christmas Poem

The year 2020 has been pretty tough
But you’ve all made it seem just a little less rough

March began so uncertain
Though soon we knew we’d stay open

Essential we were deemed, and
though relieved,

we found
staying open was stressful…

But first one, then so many more of you
came to support us

First, at the street, all distancing by 6 feet
You followed our guidelines

You made us feel safe,
donning your mask
before you walked through our door

Thank you for caring and
helping us through

We wouldn’t have made it
without loyal patrons like you!

So the trees are all sold,
holiday flowers have new homes

Christmas is here
(The New Year soon too!)

Now we wish blessings on all –
and only good health for you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄

From all of us at
Oak Street Garden Shop

Thoughts Of Fall On A November Weekend

Liam, sunning himself on a warm fall day…

Every year it happens. Fall arrives, and we welcome it with open arms as a happy counterpoint to months of sizzling temperatures.

It comes just in time too, since by this point we’ve tired of watching spring plantings gradually and inexorably succumb to summer’s never ending heat and humidity.

With the new season come truckloads of pumpkins, branches of bittersweet, traditional mums, and sweet pansies, showing all the hues of the harvest, blanketing the front of the shop with a riot of color.

Even the orchids give way, the elegant white phalaenopsis stepping aside as oncidiums and dendrobiums in shades of yellows, golds, deep purples, and browns take center stage.

Working with plants as we do, the seasons seem magnified.

Our livelihoods are driven by them, and we look forward to the next, even as we finally tire of the previous palette’s flowers, herbs, shrubs, vegetables.

Of all the seasons, fall seems to be the most fleeting, at least here in Birmingham, Alabama.

Perhaps it’s the relentless march of the holidays, with Thanksgiving accordioned between October and December, and hearing the strains of Christmas music all too soon.

So, as I write this the beginning of November, with Thanksgiving still weeks away, I’m already feeling melancholy for fall.

The harvest season simply doesn’t last long enough for me. Looking through the pictures to add to this post lifted my spirits, and I hope they do yours too.

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving and the opportunity to celebrate all we have to be thankful for, and I’m trying to remember to enjoy each season, even those that pass far too quickly.

A final thought; Don’t allow yourself to get overly stressed during the coming holidays. Try to appreciate each day and the beauty it brings, and, above all, remember to slow down and breathe. A new season with fresh beginnings is right around the corner.

By Kris Blevons

Fall in the greenhouse..

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

Just In Time For Valentine’s Day – Flowering Plants For Your Love

If you need a beautiful flower for your Valentine, look no farther than your nearest independent garden shop.

Sure, you’ll see all sorts of blooming plants in every other store on the block (They are everywhere!), but we like to think that, since plants are what we do, 365 days out of the year, we offer the best. And isn’t that what you want for your love today and every day?

The weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day really are beautiful in the greenhouse.

Orchids of all colors, forced hydrangeas in bloom, and the promise of spring with daffodils and other bulbs fill the tables. It may be winter on the calendar, but it’s spring in the greenhouse!

Whether your gift is an elegant orchid in a pretty pot or an arrangement of mixed plants and flowers in bloom, we’ll make this holiday with your love special.

To place an order for a custom design give us a call at 205-870-7542.

The Holidays…Making Memories

Every so often the wonderful opportunity we’ve been granted to be a brief part of our customers’ lives and help create memories for their little ones becomes clear. This moment of clarity usually happens on hectic holiday afternoons when the light is waning and the greenhouse is at its most beautiful.

On those crazy, busy days we catch glimpses between our work tasks of young families with little ones gazing at the animated Santa Claus display we put up each year. Smiling, we watch the children pet the garden shop cats sleeping there (It was their favorite spot this year!) as parents or grandparents take pictures.

Perhaps its because I’m getting older and my childhood memories seem more distant that appreciating this opportunity occurs to me more often. This year a family with a tiny boy in tow told me he remembered our Santa from the year before. Creating memories begins very, very young…

Memories are made in other ways too, with special decorations brought out and lovingly placed, delicate heirlooms carefully unwrapped for another season, and the “best tree ever” standing proud and tall, its lights and sparkly ornaments twinkling in darkened rooms.

A few weeks ago a favorite project reappeared, a family holiday tradition that we’ve been fortunate to have become a part of. Every year this particular family bought a new tiny elf for the children and, as their children grew older and had families of their own, for grandchildren. These elves would be brought out each season, and it wasn’t Christmas without them.

One year the owner of the elf tradition spotted a garden tray filled with tiny poinsettias, cut greens and mosses, a beautiful miniature garden that she decided would be the perfect setting for her collection of family elves. She loved it so much she brought it back the following Christmas to be “reworked” for a new season.

I look forward to seeing her each year now and enjoy creating a new garden for her elves. She told me this year her grandchildren asked her where it was.

It’s coming, she told them. The pictures here give you some idea of what they are enjoying this year – a river, a pond with a tire swing, and lots of places for her elves to perch.

I hope another happy memory is about to be made, this one on December 25th, when a pretty miniature garden is presented to the 11 year old girl who said it’s all she really wants for Christmas.

As I finished putting the last bits of moss in and repositioned the tiny hummingbird feeder, my mind wandered as I imagined being the young girl seeing this little garden for the first time on Christmas morning.

Smiling to myself, I stood there studying each little piece, trying to see it through her eyes.

Sometimes the memories we make are our own…

By Kris Blevons

Holiday Happiness

The holidays snuck up on us this year. Summer drifted into fall, with record-breaking warm temperatures and drought conditions throwing all gardening activities out of kilter.

We breathed again when the calendar finally turned to November. Surely this month, after an October of lackluster activity as landscapes wilted, would bring us the rain we desperately needed.

The days passed, and customers began coming in to get our help with their Thanksgiving festivities and holiday tables.

At the same time, we were methodically clearing the nursery of every plant, table, container, and accessory to make every bit of space for the 750 Fraser fir Christmas trees arriving the day before Thanksgiving.

Our bow-making class had more participants than the year before, and we knew the holidays were coming even if it didn’t quite feel like it.

The traditional Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves display was changed up too – this year they’re relaxing at the beach. Why wouldn’t they be with the warm weather? We joked that when the Christmas trees came so would the rains, and hopefully cooler temperatures too, and darned if that isn’t exactly what happened!

The long soaking rains might have slowed down Christmas tree sales, but really we can’t complain. We’re busy enough again, with plants and planters, and that is a great thing. Here’s hoping you all enjoy the holidays, but mostly enjoy the rainy days, any day.

By Kris Blevons

New Year’s Day…A Look Back And Wishes For The New Year

design Jamie Cross

It’s a quiet, rainy morning as I write this, too chilly to make my usual morning walk around the garden. The time the shop is closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a welcome respite from the previous month’s hectic pace. It’s such a relief to be still and have no demands, if only briefly.

design Kris Blevons

Miniature Garden…design Molly Hand

design Kris Blevons

design Jamie Cross

I’m looking forward to the new year, and soon I’ll be writing of primroses and spring flowers…the ones that our growers magically produce for greenhouses much earlier than in nature – blooming daffodils, tulips, crocus and more.

design Kris Blevons

design Molly Hand

sleigh…design Kris Blevons

design Kris Blevons

Today, though, I’m thinking of the holidays just past, when winter white azaleas, calla lilies, hydrangeas, paperwhites, larger than life blooms of amaryllis in every color, jewel-toned cyclamen, traditional poinsettias, and all the most wonderful orchids on dazzling display turned the greenhouse into a wonderland.

design Jamie Cross

I hope these pictures bring a smile at the start of this new year. The artful combination of plants, branches, textural mosses (and other happy discoveries), are our resolution for the coming year. Here’s to beauty and creativity in 2016!

A holiday terrarium…design Kris Blevons

While these designs are mostly mine, Jamie’s, and Molly’s, I’d be remiss not to mention that many more were created by Pinkie, Danielle, and Angie – worthy of a future post!

By Kris Blevons

Taking Time When It’s Needed Most…

There are those rare instances when you feel like you’ve actually made an impact, however small, in someone’s life, and recently, near the end of a long, crazy, tiring day something happened that made me feel really good.

I asked a couple I saw looking at some plants in the shop if they needed help. They said no, that they were from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and just walking through, adding everything was so beautiful and there was simply nothing like it where they were from.

I asked them what brought them to Birmingham. The woman pulled her sweater aside and I caught a glimpse of a medical drainage bag.

I’ve had a double mastectomy at UAB, she said, and we’ve been staying at an apartment here. We’re really hoping to be home for Christmas. I said I was glad they’d found our little shop and that I hoped they enjoyed looking around.

We chatted for a moment, then they asked where the cats were (They’d read the piece on the front door that Pinkie had written about Tacca and Liam.), saying they really missed their cats and dog and couldn’t wait to get back home to them.

I showed them where the cats were sleeping in the Santa Claus display in the cushy “snow”, and they laughed at that as they were petting them. Her husband pulled out his phone to snap a shot of his wife with the cats, so I asked if they’d like both their pictures taken with them. “Oh, that would be wonderful,” she said, “Thank you for taking the time.”

It’s funny. The day up to that point had been absolute, continuous bedlam, and we’d all been running in circles with hardly a breather in between. But it felt as though time slowed down as I walked around and talked with them. As they turned to go, they both grabbed my hands saying thank you, and bless you. I wished them the best and said, if they ever needed just to walk through, to come any time, that plants heal too.

A chance encounter with two lovely people looking for healing may well be my best gift of the season; I can’t imagine any others that could even come close.

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

Southern Living’s ‘Grumpy Gardener’ Noticed This Orchid Arrangement

We try to have as many orchids and other plants as possible to fill customer’s containers for parties and special events. The amount of design work we do is certainly a far cry from our start 25 years ago when we didn’t even offer orchids for sale!

This orchid arrangement, in a customer’s beautiful footed container, was spotted by Steve Bender, Southern Living’s ‘Grumpy Gardener’. He then “stole” it and featured it on his blog with our permission. But happily, it’s here too!

another in a dough bowl…

For anyone who may not know, we create arrangements like this on a daily basis for folks bringing in their containers or using ours.

driftwood pieces with orchids and houseplants

If you have something at home you’d like filled with living plants, (It doesn’t have to be orchids, it could be other foliage and flowers.) simply bring your container in, or choose one of ours. Give us some idea of where it will be placed, and if you’ll be using it for a party or need something long lasting.

Finally, give us some guidelines on color preferences if you have any, and then simply leave it for us to create something beautiful for you.

The orchid arrangement he featured had some beautiful, large air plants in it. For more information on air plants, look HERE.

During the holiday season and spring we ask at least a week’s notice (or more) so we can do the best job possible – this also allows us time to gather the plants needed for your arrangement.

Haven’t Been In Lately? Here’s What We’ve Been Up To…

Red tulips, a pretty pink hydrangea, a rex begonia and greenery…

Cyclamen, Callas and Daffodils are a cheery mix…

This arrangement was to celebrate the birth of a baby girl…

February is full of bright colors…primroses, hyacinths and tête á tête narcissus…

A pretty arrangement for Valentine’s Day. This would be pretty for any occasion this time of year though…this one showcases a calla and a beautiful pink hydrangea…

A customer’s container became home to a bird’s nest Fern and agave…

Outside the greenhouse can look a little drab this time of year, but, if you’ve just passed us by, have you ever missed out!

Primroses in the greenhouse…

The greenhouse has been packed full with blooming beauties and with Valentine’s Day just past, we’ve been putting together the prettiest arrangements for gifts and filling containers with all sorts of plants for centerpieces too.

This cork bark planter is filled with succulents, spring bulbs, candytuft and primroses…

Succulent pots at the front door…

In bloom at the entrance to the greenhouse…

Echeverias blooming in a tiny pot…

Here’s a sampling of what the greenhouse has looked like.

Tacca is getting more adventurous, between getting pets from everyone…

A sweet pot filled with a Rieger begonia, ferns and ivy...

A sweet pot filled with a Rieger begonia, Fern and Ivy…

White and yellow Phalaenopsis orchid arrangement with azaleas and succulents….

Next time you’re driving by, take a moment out of your busy day to stop and smell the flowers!

Cattleya orchids and air plants in the afternoon light…

A calla lily azalea, campanula and fern in shades of purple, lavender, white and green…

Hydrangeas, azaleas and purple campanula

Wire Hearts for Valentine’s Day…

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!

Oak Street Garden Shop and Local Market

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

Category Archives: Holiday

Holiday Hours & Merry Wishes ✨🎄

Don’t Forget Your Winter Arrangements

The Holiday Season is Here 🎁✨

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours & Seasonal Gratitudes

Thanksgiving Arrangements 🍁🦃

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

Amaryllis – Beauty In A Bulb

Floral “Fireworks” for the Fourth

A Christmas Poem

Thoughts Of Fall On A November Weekend

Making Our Way Through Another Holiday Season

Just In Time For Valentine’s Day – Flowering Plants For Your Love

The Holidays…Making Memories

Holiday Happiness

New Year’s Day…A Look Back And Wishes For The New Year

Taking Time When It’s Needed Most…

Unplanned Blessings Begin the Holiday Season…

Southern Living’s ‘Grumpy Gardener’ Noticed This Orchid Arrangement

Haven’t Been In Lately? Here’s What We’ve Been Up To…

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