Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture
Posted April 1997
Wreaths traditionally have been a door decoration of the holiday season. But as people experiment with a variety of materials for wreathmaking, their uses multiply.
Simple grapevine wreaths may become the classic door decor with the addition of a festive bow. With a few dried herbs, hot peppers and miniature popcorn, it is a year-round decoration for the country kitchen. The silver-green of dried mullein leaves and the bronze of glycerine-treated beech combine to enhance a grapevine wreath for a country-style living room.
Herbal wreaths with a base of artemisia and decorations of lavender, roses, baby's breath and other fragrant herbs are equally attractive in a bedroom or bath. A miniature herbal wreath can be made by coating a wooden or plastic curtain ring with a generous amount of glue and dipping it in potpourri to coat it. A tiny bow completes a perfect wreath for a doll house or as a Christmas tree ornament.
For a more traditional evergreen wreath, white pine, hemlock, red cedar or a combination of these and other conifers can be secured firmly to a heavy grade wire base using 2l weight wire. The trick is not adding too much greenery at a time and maintaining an even tension on the wrapping wire. These wreaths can be decorated by wiring pine cones, well-berried holly branches, and ribbon over the stems that form the structure of the wreath.
Boxwood, holly, and other small, broad leaved evergreens usually are made into wreaths by attaching several three to five foot long stems to a straw base with florist pins. Attach the stems, one layer at a time, completely encircling the wreath each time. These wreaths can be decorated with berries, dried flowers or seed heads or fruit.
In Colonial Williamsburg, the use of fruit in wreaths was inspired by Luce della Robbia, a l5th century sculptur who carved garlands of fruit and nuts in his work. Fruit can be tied in place using a pliable l8 weight florist wire that is first inserted through the fruit and then through the straw base.
Fruit tends to slip easily if the wire goes around, instead of through, the structure of the wreath. In cold weather that is above freezing, fruit will last for seven to eight days before it needs replacing unless birds decide to feast on your decor.
All wreaths made from cut greenery will last much longer if kept cold, so plan to use them outdoors. Bring them inside for short periods on special occasions.
Living wreaths are also a tradition and can be created several ways. Most simply, a pot of English ivy can be trained over a wreathshaped wire frame inserted into a pot. Frequent winding and pruning will be required initially to develop a pleasing shape.
A wreath shape made from a cylinder of chicken wire stuffed with sphagnum can be used to produce a topiary wreath from a pot of creeping fig or various vines. Cuttings of ivy can be inserted directly into the sphagnum where they will root and grow, producing a pot-free wreath. Such a wreath requires frequent watering and fertilizing and is most suited for hanging on an exterior mason stone wall.
(Prepared by Virginia Nathan, Extension Technician, Consumer Horticulture, and Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327.)
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