Fresh Flowers Make Great Decorations

Fri., Dec. 15, 2000

Kathy Van Mullekom (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press

Think in terms of “fresh” and “natural” when decorating your home for the holidays.

Fresh flowers add their own special scent to the holidays, mingling it with the aroma of pine, cedar, spruce and home-baked cookies.

The quickest, easiest way to add the look of fresh flowers is to tuck pots of forced-blooming bulbs into baskets, brass containers or decorative pottery. Hide the tops of pots with a light layer of decorative moss.

Potted hyacinths, popular for decades in Europe, are quickly becoming the trendy flower for holiday decorating, says Sally Ferguson of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center - www.bulb.com - in New York.

“First, there’s the fragrance, which is much more evocative than most people remember. Then there’s the luscious waxy color captured in that upright elegant shape.”

To enjoy potted hyacinths for several weeks, select young plants with tight buds and just a little color showing - not those already in full bloom.

Amaryllis puts out extravagant, colorful flowers for the holidays, then you can plant it outdoors where you can watch it bloom in your garden for years to come.

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