Grow your own festive foliage

As well as making wreaths, Christmas is a great time to adorn your staircases, mantelpieces and tables with ivy and other evergreen foliage.  And going out on a bright winter’s day to pick homegrown greenery straight from the garden makes it even more appealing.  Push your greenery into soaked oasis foam in trays along your mantelpiece or wherever you want your display – naturalism is in vogue.  So just go for it and have fun!  As well as traditional holly and ivy (including their variegated forms) here are some other ideas:

Rosemary.  Pretty and evergreen, the wonderful scent of rosemary will fill your home with a wonderful scent.

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Queen.’  This is a useful shrub for the garden and with its dark stem and creamy, grey/green leaves, fab for cutting and bringing indoors.

Griselinia littoralis.  With its rounded foliage and apple green leaves, this has a fabulously fresh look. 

Eucalyptus.  This has a classy grey-silver colour, smells lovely and ages well, looking good even when it’s dried out.

Pine.  Full and fresh- looking, pine is perfect Christmas foliage.  You can often pick this up from Christmas tree stalls.

Bay.  Traditionally used for wreaths, this has lovely dark green leaves that adds a contrast to other foliage.

Other ideas include spruce, including lovely blue spruce, phillyrea and euonymous.