The holidays are almost here! Time to get your front entry and outdoor planters looking festive for the season. See below for recommendations based on your Zone, using the “thriller, filler, spiller” design theory.
ELIZABETH’S TIPS FOR ZONE 7 (THAT’S YOU, OKLAHOMA CITY!)
The “thriller” is the one tall plant in the middle that gives the arrangement height. A live evergreen is our thriller of choice for winter planters. Other good thriller options, in addition to the evergreen, are red twig dogwood sticks and birch poles. Depending on the size of the planter, good evergreen options are boxwood, juniper and dwarf alberta spruce.
Next comes the “filler” which fills in around the middle of the planter. Our favorite fillers for the holidays are pinecones, berries and ornaments.
Last come the “spillers” which cascade over the sides of the planter. You could use one gallon evergreen shrubs that have a trailing habit (like pacific blue juniper or blue rug juniper), fresh evergreen garland or cut evergreen branches as spillers. Our favorite cut evergreen branch is incense cedar because it looks good long after the holidays are over. If you use fresh garland or any cut evergreen branches make sure to spray them with Wilt-Pruf or another anti-dessicant product and keep them misted with water on a weekly basis throughout the holiday season so they don't dry out.
In the picture below, we’ve used a boxwood as the thriller, pinecones and berries as fillers and blue rug juniper as the spillers. Doesn’t it look festive for the holidays? Once the holidays are over, just remove the pinecones, berries and garland and the evergreens will look great all winter long.
JULIE’S TIPS FOR ZONE 6 (KANSAS CITY, THIS IS YOU!)
Look at this gorgeousness that Julie created last winter! Since it is a lot colder in Kansas City, she will be using spruce tops as the thrillers instead of live evergreen shrubs. Her favorite fillers are pine cones, berries and various evergreen branches (princess pine, noble fir or silver tip fir). Julie likes to use an evergreen garland as the spiller and / or incense or coned cedar.
