Holiday Decorations
I just love how my home looks this time of year - filled with cheerful holiday decorations.
Whether I am home or away for Christmas, I always like to decorate several rooms with festive trees, wreaths, and pretty plants from the greenhouse. This year, some of my decorations include gold, silver, and green tabletop trees glistening with ornaments, coordinating wreaths on the windows, colorful orchids, and other lush green potted plants.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
-
- I try to vary the holiday decorations in my home. I always use lots of trees – silver, green or gold in every room. And I always try to display them differently each time. In my Brown Room, silver trees decorate the dining table with ornaments and glass icicles on every branch.
-
- On my mantel, large silver balls sit atop candleholders. Decorations can be subtle and still so festive.
-
- Charming woodland owls sit on this table near the door. I like to include a mix of old favorites as well as new.
-
- Indoors I always hang wreaths on every window. Do you know… Before the wreath became associated with Christmas, it was used as a token of victory and power in ancient Greece and Rome? Wreaths first appeared as holiday decorations in connection with Yule, which marked the winter solstice for early Germanic Pagans. The wreaths were a symbol of spring and a promise of its return.
-
- Here is a green tabletop tree in my sitting room. The ornaments include different shades of green and gold.
-
- Here’s another wreath hung on a window looking out onto my courtyard.
-
- Green, silver, and copper bottlebrush trees adorn the table in my Green Parlor. If you recall, I developed these for my own holiday collection on QVC.
-
- And this tree in a planter is one of two flanking the fireplace in this room. One can never have too many trees during the holidays.
-
- Not far, these bottlebrush trees are placed around the giant falcon in my entrance hall.
-
- And here is a potted orchid in the corner. Houseplants are an inexpensive way to decorate a room. They complement any décor and work to filter out toxins and increase oxygen levels.
-
- Here’s a green tree – one of two – at the entrance to my enclosed porch.
-
- Here’s a wreath on another window – using different kinds adds texture and interest to the rooms.
-
- This wreath is on the door to my courtyard, where display lots of tropical plants during summer.
-
- When plants are in bloom, I love to bring them inside my home from the greenhouse. Look at this lovely orchid flower. Orchids grow on every continent except Antarctica. They are native to the tropical regions of Asia, Australia, the Himalayas, and the Philippines. The orchid forms one of the largest families in the plant kingdom, with more than 25,000 species worldwide. The size of orchids depends on the species. They can be quite small or very large. However, every orchid flower is bilaterally symmetrical, which means it can be divided into two equal parts.
-
- I also decorate with interesting and unusual potted plants. This is Euphorbia lactea, also known as a “Coral Cactus.” It is a species native to tropical Asia, mainly in India. The showy part of the plant, the section that resembles coral, is called the crest. The ridges are spiny, with short spines.
-
- This is a potted rhipsalis, native to the rainforests of South America, the Caribbean and Central America. Rhipsalis is a cacti genus with approximately 35 distinct species. I have many types of rhipsalis growing in my greenhouse. Rhipsalis specimens have long, trailing stems making them perfect choices as indoor plants on pedestals or tall tables.
-
- This is a Hurricane Bird’s Nest Fern, also known as Asplenium antiquum, a tropical fern with distinctive, twisted fronds that resemble the eye of a hurricane.
-
- Here is another fern. Many ferns make wonderful, low-maintenance, undemanding houseplants that are well loved for their beautiful foliage.
-
- And outside, I take out several shooting stars and hang them on some of the outbuildings here at the farm. Here’s a tip: if one needs to use extension cords to connect outdoor decorations, use supplies that match the exterior of the building. I use grayish-tan extension cords, so they are not seen against the siding. Also be sure any electrical supplies are safe to use outside.
-
- This shooting star is hung above the sliding doors of my Equipment Barn. By night fall, the lights look so beautiful. Do you know what a true shooting star is? A shooting star is actually a small piece of rock or dust that hits Earth’s atmosphere from space. It moves so fast that it heats up and glows as it moves through the skies. Astronomers call them meteors. Most meteors burn up before they even reach the ground. Happy holiday decorating!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
