Third Sunday of Advent 2019: How to Plant a Living Centerpiece

Happy Third Sunday of Advent, My Lovelies!   Today I want to share with you an easy way to make a living centerpiece for Christmas.  All it takes is a little watering and misting to keep it fresh throughout the holiday season.  Once it's made, you won't have to worry about purchasing fresh flowers for your centerpiece in your dining room, breakfast room, or kitchen island.  Also, it is much more expensive to buy one of these centerpieces already made, so it's best to learn how to do it and make them yourself with the plants you want to use.

This is the finished product.

This is what you'll need for the project:

1 watertight 14' - 16" container.  I used a willow basket with a plastic liner.

1 4" - 6" flowering plant, like the white cyclamen

5-6 4" ferns.  I used maidenhair and a couple of variegated ones

Moss

Optional:  1 small accent plant.  I used a tiny red Poinsettia

This is how you plant the centerpiece:

Use a wadded-up plastic bag to "raise" the flowering plant, placing it in the center of your container.  Keep it in the green nursery pot it came in.

Place the other pots around it.  If they don't all fit, you might need to replace a pot or two with a plastic quart-sized baggie.   If any of your plants are in smaller containers, use the same trick with a wadded-up plastic bag to raise the plant.

Once you have the plants in a pleasing arrangement, fill-in all the blank spots with moss.  I usually purchase a bag of moss from my nursery.

Carefully water the plants and mist the moss very well.  Check your centerpiece every other day for dryness, especially if you use smaller plants.  Mist them daily.  

It's easy to replace individual plants if one looks sad.

These are the plants I used, and the basket is well-lined in plastic.

If you choose a cyclamen, try finding one with several buds on it.

So simple!  Won't you give it a try?

I placed it on a simple plaid runner in our dining room.

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

~Matthew 2: 10 - 11

I hope your Advent Season has been filled with joy so far!

Until next time...

Blessings!

Ricki Jill