Decorate for the holidays with flowers and greenery

'Tis the season to be jolly and Clemson Extension Senior Consumer Horticulture Agent Barbara Smith has some decorating tips to help get people in the holiday spirit.

Smith says decorating with flowers and fresh greenery can help make the season bright. Some suggestions include poinsettias, florist cyclamen, kalanchoes, amaryllis, forced paperwhites and phalaenopsis orchids.

"I prefer to use flowering plants that are a little more uncommon for the holidays," Smith said. "My favorites are cyclamens, amaryllis, paperwhites and phalaenopsis orchids."

Smith and her family have a longstanding tradition of using live plants for holiday decorating.

"I have a wide variety of plants in my garden that provide greenery, berries, seed pods and more," she said. "I've learned to use live greenery in creative ways."

As a senior consumer horticulture agent, Smith has contributed to writing and revising fact sheets to help people decorate with live plants. These resources are available through the Clemson Extension Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC).

One popular fact sheet is Holiday Decorating with Fresh Greenery (HGIC 1753), which explains how to gather, use and maintain greenery for holiday decorations.

Smith also recommends creating garden gnomes to add holiday cheer, following the Holiday Garden Gnome fact sheet. This project involves using items including a tomato cage, zip ties or floral stem wire, greenery, a stocking hat and mittens, a fake nose, and yarn or Spanish moss for a beard.

"This is an activity that can include family members of all ages and become a tradition," she said.

Other holiday decorating fact sheets cover projects such as making a Colonial-inspired Apple Candle Holder, How to Make a Boxwood Kissing Ball for the Holidays, Holiday Decorating with Orange Pomanders and Creative Ideas for Holiday Decorating.

More information about decorating with live plants, as well as information about landscaping, gardening, plant health, food safety and nutrition is available from Smith and other HGIC agents for people living in South Carolina. For assistance, residents can call 1-888-656-9988 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.