It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

 

Let's say that you're a nursery that is in charge of growing and taking care of lots of summer hanging baskets.  At the end of the year, you would find yourself with lots of used fiber pots full of soil and roots.  Vassey Nursery in Puyallup has come up with a beautiful way to use these hanging pots. They drill holes in the pots, insert greens decorations, and bows.  The tight roots of the spend annuals help to hold the greens in and also holds moisture to help preserve the baskets.  Some folks take the decorations off and enjoy the greens by themselves through spring.

 You can simply pull that spent fuchsia basket down, store it in the garage for the winter and hang one of these in it's place.

 If you're not near Vassey in Puyallup, this could be a cool project to do yourself.

 

Here are some other random sights from Vassey that made me happy to live in our mild climate.

 

Camelia sasanqua 'Setsugekka'

 

cyclemen foliage will look grand all winter long!

Pulmonaria's spots are so sweet!

Yucca 'Color Guard' with that beautiful yellow/gold stripe sure stands out!  Can't help thinking of Pam at Digging and her love of this beauty!

 The pond area looking especially autumnal.

 

One of the things I love about winter here is that the combination pots become so much more foliage centric.  Sure there are things blooming but it's not the same explosion of  annual floral color that we see in the summer.

Only 5 more days until Christmas!