HOLIDAY WELCOME

The pictures  posted are my first attempt at creating a seasonal porch pot.  Like many aspects of my life--I'm a "day late and a dollar short".  I'm the one who thinks of making everyone's Christmas gift on Dec. 10th.

As I have mentioned previously, I have container envy every time I visit Minneapolis in late fall.  However, that is hardly the time to start thinking of my own seasonal porch pot.

It should start with clearing out the petunias in the half barrel containers and not letting the soil freeze.  Maybe a mulch of leaves or compost, or some sort of covering to keep the soil from freezing.
According to an  article in the Sept.-Oct. 2019 issue of the American Gardener, seasonal porch pots "are supported by the existing soil in the pots so no Styrofoam is needed."

Gathered Materials

I was able to collect some dried materials before the snow limited my wanderings through the property.  I harvested rabbitbrush, sagebrush, Oregon Grape, various dried seed heads, plus ponderosa pine, blue spruce and juniper branches.  Friend Shelby offered dried allium blooms that were on their way to her compost pile.  I also picked a few branches from my brush pile to use for wrapping yarn as a color blast.

Being snowbound offered a good opportunity to meet the challenge of the yarn stash and use up some bits and pieces.

Since this wasn't a pre-frost planned project I did use an empty container with a Styrofoam florist block as the base.  The soils in the summer containers were frozen solid.

Ideally next year I will start gathering early.  The process according to the article should be to place the cut materials in a bucket of water and then recut the base as you place it in the container  that also has moist soil.

Magical Yarn and Glue

The same design principles apply as you would use for a summer container: thrillers, fillers and spillers.  The thriller would be something bold and upright, a filler would help to create the framework and the spiller would be greenery that would drape over the container.

Using Up the Stash

After the holiday season I will take out the holiday colored yarn branches and replace with spring colored yarns and probably freshen up the cut greens.

A pipe dream will be that next fall I will cut fall leaf foliage, maybe find some mountain ash berry branches, or a branch or two of rose hips.  Those selections would carry the porch pot up to the holiday theme.

Will be interesting if I receive any comments from the neighbors.  Hopefully your imagination will move you to creating the most exciting porch pot in the neighborhood!

Don't forget to check out the Gardening:.Get Good At It  segment "Design for Winter Interest" you may find some ideas for spring planting that relates to winter enjoyment.  The segment airs on Tues. Dec. 10th on KPOV 88.9 FM between 9-9:30 am

Ready for the Front Porch!