When most people think of holly, they think of a shrub with bright red berries and glossy evergreen foliage. Holly always has glossy evergreen leaves, right? Well, not always. We grow a deciduous holly, winterberries, that lose their leaves each autumn. After the leaves have turned yellow and dropped, you are left with a breathtaking view of thousands of brightly coloured berries clinging to every stem.
What Can Winterberries Be Used For?
Winterberries are most commonly used for crafts and decorating around the holiday season. We have come up with our 3 favourite ways to use winterberries:
1. Outdoor Arrangements
Brighten your holiday wreaths and planter arrangements with bright red winterberries. For inspiration check out these pictures of how customers have used our Winterberries in their outdoor arrangements over the years.
If you are not crafty, an easy way to add some cheery colour to your front entrance is to place winterberry stems in a steel pail or unique container outside on your steps or beside you door. Yes, it's that simple to easily use winterberries to decorate outside during the holidays.
2. Holiday Dinner Centre Pieces
Make your holiday table stand out even more by adding winterberries. They can be used as part of centre pieces or even incorporated in the place settings.
Inside winterberries are much like cut flowers, lasting about 1 week to 10 days, so a tip to having winterberries for your holiday table is to purchase the winterberry bundles when available in the fall and then store the winterberry stems in your garage (if not heated) or in your freezer until you are ready to create your table centre-piece.
3. Kids Crafts
Do you make homemade decorations each Christmas season? We do, and we love incorporating natural elements such as evergreen cuttings and winterberries into our homemade holiday decorations. Your kids or grandkids will enjoy the adventure of collecting evergreen clippings and pine cones too. And adding winterberries is the perfect way to add bright red to your crafts naturally.
Now you know a few of our favourite ways to use winterberries. We would love to see how you have incorporated winterberries into your holiday decorations this season. You can share pictures with us in the comments section of our website www.hattrickfarms.ca.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Happy Holidays from our family to yours.