The House Dressing Company

Hello everyone.  As promised by Helen last week, here I am blogging for the very first time, whilst she is away on a much-deserved holiday in California!  I’ve never done this before.  A year ago I would have thought a “blog” was some type of horrible illness or something rude!  Now look at me!

Let me introduce myself.  My name is Ingrid and I’ve worked with the House Dressing team for the past two years.  Previous to that, I worked as a Horticulturist for about 20 years.  Gosh, that sounds like a LONG time!   Anyway, I am loving the change (no more working outdoors in the winter months, hooray!) and being in this beautiful “indoor” environment is so good for my soul.

That being said, I still adore the garden and anything to do with it.  I am a “nature girl” at heart and love the rewards that gardening brings me.   It has taught me many things:  patience, gentleness, quietness, being aware and mindful of my surroundings – sounds, sights, smells.  The incredibly interesting life that insects lead, the rituals and sounds of the birds and how I often get to know and recognize the regulars to my garden.  I love watching things grow and marvel at how forgiving many plants are!  Especially when my Jack Russell “Terrorist” goes bounding through them, all hyped up, chasing a curious squirrel.  Or my cat lies right on top of a low growing shrub, washing her face, enjoying the sunshine and totally unaware that she is squashing one of my special plants!

I could go on…. but I’m here to talk about the treasures we can find in our own gardens to bring the colours and textures of Autumn into our homes to enjoy during the cooler months of the year.

Let’s start with branches.  There are so many different textured branches, twigs, sticks – whatever you want to call them!  I love the red-stemmed Dogwood for both fall and winter colour.  At this time of the year, they still have their leaves, but you could easily tear them off to bare the stems, or wait until they fall off naturally.  They really do retain their colour, and are usually very long and very straight, so are easy to bunch all together and place in a large vase or container.  No water necessary.  You can fill the branches with little (artificial) birds, mini lights or keep them natural and they will look wonderful.  If you are placing them in a clear vase, you could fill the bottom with tiny pinecones, acorns or chestnuts.  Either gather them yourself, or you can actually buy … you guessed it…. artificial ones!  We have them in the store, and I cannot tell the difference!

Other “sticks” I love are from the contorted hazelnut, sometimes called the “tortured” hazelnut.  Oh poor things!  They are so interesting and sometimes all you need is one stem to make a statement.  You can use them in vases with other flowers to add a bit of whimsy and texture, in centrepieces with other natural elements like flowers, berries, acorns or pinecones.   Or, they look good just by themselves.

Weeping Silver Birch trees produce great twigs and sticks!  I love the very fine weeping bunches of twigs that you can use in a bundle to decorate a vase again either by themselves or with other flowers. When they are very fine, they tend to be very flexible and you can twist a handful of them into a wreath.  They look like birds nests then, and are great for using as a kind of frame around a centrepiece of berries, pinecones, autumn leaves and candles.

At this time of the year, you will still find some pretty fall flowers to add to your fall arrangements.  I just have to show you a picture of my Pee Gee Hydrangea tree.  The flowers are SO huge and heavy that with last week’s rain, they are now all bowing their heads towards the ground.  These spectacular flowers are pure white during the summer months, and as soon as the evenings get a little cooler, they blush pink – almost like they are embarrassed.  So pretty.  They are great in large vases by themselves or with other flowers or berried branches and sure make a statement!

Some berries to consider decorating with are Mountain Ash berries, Calicarpa – gorgeous purple berries and Pyracantha berries – some come in orange shades and some in red.   Seed pods from various plants are also great to use for texture and interest in arrangements.

You can use all kinds of vessels to fill with all the goodies from the garden.  I’ve mentioned vases, but beautiful bowls, either clear or coloured, baskets, old teapots, jugs, galvanised tin cans or old watering cans, can all be used to display your fall treasures.  Let your imagination and creative juices flow!!!

Last week in the store, I put together a decorative centrepiece that has a bit of a bonsai/Zen feel to it.   Here is a picture of it.  If you are interested in making something similar – IT’S EASY!!!  Come into the store and let me show you how.  We have all the do-dads that you need to set it up, including the fake moss.  shhhhh.  Don’t tell anyone and they’ll never know!

That’s it from me.  I’ve enjoyed creating my first blog.  Helen will be back next week – all refreshed and with new ideas to share with you I’m sure.

Enjoy your Autumn, your garden, and being creative.