YORKTON – A gardener’s vision of fruit and bloom, can brighten any homey room; so create some magic yet unseen, with curious bouquets at Halloween…
Who can resist some floral hocus-pocus for a bewitching Halloween flower arrangement or centrepiece? Let’s do something magically different by using fruits, veg, and flowers!
First of all, let’s find a vase. Okay, before we start to panic, it doesn’t have to be a ‘vase’ in the traditional sense. Depending on our ingredient choices, we can use an ordinary tray or dinner plate. If we choose to use flowers, a large soup can or a good-sized jar painted black would work just fine, if we don’t have a ‘holiday’ vase. And wait, there may be other ideas appearing right before our eyes as we start our work!
So come on, let’s go shopping, and the first aisle we’ll visit is the produce aisle at the grocery store! What color did you have in mind for our spooky design? Purple? Love it!
Did you say you have a small tray you’d like to use? Perfect!
Purple…purple…what do we see? How about a clump of dark purple grapes, they’d make a nice start. Look, there’s a small purple cabbage, glorious with that bluish tinge! And look at those purple eggplants, just one would make a great accent! Are there any purple or very dark green peppers? Let’s add a few! A few beets would look great, and maybe some of those dark plums, what do you think? And look at those little turnips with the purple tops?
We’ve got lots to work with—get out that tray or dinner plate and begin arranging. There is certainly no right or wrong way to do it! Put the largest item in the middle or at one side, then set out the other items around it. And guess what, after the Halloween holiday, we can cook up a ‘purple passion buffet’, using our centrepiece!
Wow, look at the green items…are you thinking what I’m thinking? Let’s start with a couple Granny Smith apples, a small clump of green grapes, and maybe a couple very green bananas. How about a few of those Brussel sprouts? I see some of those little cucumbers, they’d be a good textural addition. Look at the peppers! We could get a green bell pepper or a handful of some of the small hot peppers. Did you see that bouquet of lime green mums at the end of the aisle? Here’s a thought, let’s choose a small green cabbage, hollow out the centre, tuck a small juice glass inside, and what a great ‘vase’ that would be! Let’s add a small handful of parsley for more greenery!
What? You can’t decide so you want to go with flowers instead? Sounds good! We can use that soup can that we painted black. We could go with mums in jewel colors like purple or bronze, and if we find some spider mums, that gives spooky new appeal. Some of those mini-carnations in deep purple would be great. These tones are different and edgier than the oranges and yellows we just enjoyed at Thanksgiving. Let’s add more contrast of texture with branches. We can give them a quick swipe of acrylic paint in a moody purple, gray, or dark blue…they’ll look like windswept branches outside! And if we tease out a couple cotton balls into fine threads, it can look like cobwebs on the branches! Easy!
Gardeners can stretch their creativity beyond the borders of the garden. Make a fun centrepiece for your kitchen or surprise a neighbor with a one-of-a-kind Halloween creation! Give it a try and just enjoy yourself—anything goes! Thank you to our friends at YTW for their fine work. Gardeners, visit www.yorktonhort and have a nice week!
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