Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2016 - 64

singing in the garden
and festooned the fireplaces with holly and magnolia.
Mistletoe, holly and magnolia don't grow in my
mountains, but other evergreens beg to be gathered and
brought inside where the heat of the woodstove will release their spicy scent. Cedar is my favorite of all the native species because it smells so good and holds up well
in wreaths. Younger cedars are pricklier than older ones,
so I spend all summer running my hands through their
scaly leaves. The ones that don't make my hands burn
and itch are noted for winter gathering.
Then, the day after Thanksgiving, my mom, my sister
and I each pocket a pair of shears for a jaunt in the old
farm truck to the trees I've marked. Soon, the bed of the
truck is rounded up with pungent piles of branches.
On our way back to the house we stop for rhododendron and winterberry. When we've added trimmings
from the boxwoods in the yard, we're ready for phase
two: wreath making. After years of decking the halls, I've
discovered the fastest way to build a bushy wreath is to
make small bunches of greens and wire them to a round
form. Our hands are sticky by the time we've tucked the
last bunch of winterberry under a bow.
The leftovers are placed in vases to scent every room,
and when we drive out to hang the first wreath on the
gate out at the end of our driveway, it's official. ChristBLUE_RIDGE_COUNTRY_QP_AD-JUNE_2016-PRESS.pdf
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5/11/16
8:01 AM
mas has arrived. 

Making a Wreath
Supplies: paddlewire, 8 inch diameter single wire wreath
form, a variety of greenery and berries
Procedure:
* Attach the
paddle wire to
the wire wreath
form with a knot.
* Gather a
small bunch of
greenery.
* Hold the
greenery against
the form and
make two or
three tight turns around the
stems with the paddle wire.
* Continue by covering the
stems of each bunch with the
greenery of the next bunch,
wrapping as before.
* When you reach the end, tuck
the stem ends of the final bunch under the greenery of
the first.
* Secure the wire and make a hanger. -GN

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Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2016

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