Color | Deborah Silver & Co.

The Holiday Dinner, 2014

For the past several years, I have posted pictures from a holiday dinner hosted every year by 2 very good friends. They both have careers in the arts and are keenly interested in design. They have a collection of ornaments amassed over a period of many years. They have strong ties to French art and design. All of this shows, whether the subject at hand is their collection of boxwood in pots, their perennial gardens, or their French style potager. Their holiday is ordinarily a very subtle and understated affair. This year’s table is a significant departure.

This holiday featured an unexpected turn of events. The French blue flocked tree around which they had planned their holiday was not available. By the time they ordered their tree, the color was sold out. With equal parts pique and nerve, they ordered a flocked tree in turquoise. M sent me a picture of the tree-I could not imagine what they would do with it. The color was very strong. Intensely turquoise. As they felt it was either a turquoise flocked tree, or a tree with no flock, they jumped in.

Once the initial shock of the color had worn off, I could see them both accepting, and later enjoying the challenge. They kept me updated, as the decorating process unfolded. My part in all of this? Being available to tell them I was sure what they did would be great. The design process always has those moments. A tree that dies, and leaves an attending shade garden exposed to full sun is a design challenge, as it is based on a circumstance that cannot be altered. The one boxwood or lavender that dies out mid-hedge, or an exceptionally cold winter that kills the roses back to the ground can present significant design challenges. Every gardener experiences moments like this.

But the glory of their holiday is in what companion colors and materials they chose to make that turquoise look beautiful and deliberate. They harvested lots of weed seed heads, and hydrangeas from their garden. Those cream colored stems are intertwined, and float over that startling blue.

They used lots of red, as in pomegranate, and red amaryllis. I am not sure why red and turquoise is such a striking color combination, but here it is-with gold and cream as an intermediary. Big splashes of gold, and some silver added to the festivities. It was clear this design process was not drawn on paper, or completely imagined in advance. It was a process for which they both had patience. Do enjoy their pictures.

red for the holiday

the holiday table

Sophia

I thought their holiday was incredibly beautiful. Their willingness to take on an unexpected circumstance with energy and verve is equally as stunning. Taking chances with design-how I admire this.

Posted on: December 31, 2014 33 Comments

Filed Under: Color, Holiday, Parties and Events, Good Design Tagged With: holiday color, flocked trees, holiday dinner, holiday, holiday design

A Very Merry Celebration

Rob has lots of clients for who he designs and constructs holiday and winter arrangements. Most of them feature light in one form or another. One particular client that with whom he shares a great rapport contacts him in early November every year about a holiday scheme. They are thick as thieves for weeks, planning. Years ago she bought his first light ring, made from a vintage wheel. The result of their collaboration is always beautiful. It is a testament to what good things can come from a long standing design relationship based on respect and exchange.

Holiday elements that have been part of her collection for some time are remixed every year. There are those people who like the holiday the same every year, and those who like to change it up. Change doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning old materials for new. It means a willingness to re imagine. One thing the two of them share is a big love of the holiday season. It shows in the work. I asked her if I could post pictures of this year’s holidays-she said yes. Some are her pictures, and some are Rob’s. Though no picture could truly do justice to the work, you’ll get the gist of it. bottom lit container

light rings

light rings after dark

holiday chandelier

12 foot red flocked Christmas tree

lighted red flocked wreath

another holiday tree

view from the rear yard terrace

lighted spheres

looking out to the lake

After dark-how striking is this?

Posted on: December 19, 2014 17 Comments

Filed Under: Holiday, Lighting, Color, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: lighted holiday containers, light rings, Rob Yedinak, holiday decorating

Michigan Holly

Ilex verticillata is a deciduous holly that goes by many common names. We call it Michigan holly, or winter berry. They say it is fairly easy to grow, but my my experience was not that successful. It is easy to spot when Michigan holly is thriving. The branches are loaded with dense clusters of bright red berries that are visible from a long ways away. They ask for a soil that is fairly moisture retentive, even swampy. There are newish cultivars that have especially bright red berries. Winter Red is a recommended cultivar for our zone. It is a strong growing mult stemmed shrub that matures to 8 or 9 feet tall.

The berries make it worth growing. But if you do not have space for such a large shrub, growers harvest and sell bunches of the berried branches in late fall. They are beautiful in fresh holiday arrangements that only need last for a week or two. Indoors, the berries will eventually rot and drop from house heat. Outdoors, they are longer lasting. Up until a few years ago, I almost always opted for faux berries in winter pots. Though the color of a berry pick cannot begin to approximate the color of the real thing, they could be counted on to last the whole winter. Once we started spraying our winter berry with Vapor Gard, our success improved dramatically. The berries stayed put, and stayed plump well into February. Vapor Gard is a professional grade anti desiccant which is only available in a gallon concentrate. Premixed wilt pruf in a spray bottle will help too. Be sure to soak the berries when there is no threat of rain, and let them dry.

A client for whom the holiday isn’t right without winter berry branches reports that in mid to late January, the birds discover the berries. One by one, they begin to disappear. The birds raiding the berries is a treasured part of his holiday experience.

berried holiday containers

winter berry

This container has 6 bunches of Michigan holly in it. Bunches available at our farmer’s market come bunched together with a rubber band. We do not take the bunches apart- this disturbs too many berries. A bamboo stick inserted into the bottom of the bunch is what goes in the foam in the container. Michigan holly is beautiful, but it needs to be handled with care.

Red berries in a lighted container will look like fire when the daylight wanes.

See what I mean?

Posted on: December 12, 2014 10 Comments

Filed Under: Winter, Lighting, Color, Plants, Holiday Tagged With: winter berry, Michigan holly, ilex verticillata

The Holiday Outdoors

As much as I like representing the holiday season in the garden, I like getting ready for it in the garage. Our garage space is large; we can set up a pop up fabrication shop that even Buck would like. The approach to the work comes first. It is key to doing a job efficiently, and successfully. We had a garland to make for a holiday installation. Dan Prielipp from Prielipp Greenhouses, a long time supplier at the Oakland County Farmer’s market, custom makes our mixed fir garland. We find that concolor, noble and douglas fir holds up the best and the longest of all the possible garland greens. We stretch out the garland on a series of cardboard boxes we save especially for this purpose. This brings the garland up to a height that is comfortable to work on. We split the garland in half, and reattach the pieces such that the vertical parts of the garland both left and right side have branches that face up. Branches up one side, and down the other offends my sense of symmetry. Upfacing branches will eventually respond to gravity, and open up. Open branches are more volumetric. Branches hung down will close as they loose their moisture.

We add noble fir where we think the garland needs more presence-these new boughs are attached with zip ties. We loosely wire and attach groups of pine cones to the garland. This is not a job to do on a ladder. All we will do on the ladder is wire the finished garland in place. Working on a flat surface helps to establish the front face of the garland. Once the groups of cones are attached, we wrap the garland with grapevine. Rob makes sure we have loads of these 35 foot long rolls in stock for the winter season. The grapevine was cut and rolled when fresh. When dry, these branches are wiry, and keep their circular shape no matter the weather.

The grapevine, rolled generously over the surface of the garland, is beautiful in its own right. But it also provides an armature upon which lots of other elements of the garland can be attached. I like garland that has is airy, and has a sculptural shape. The faux berries and glass ornaments of this garland were attached to nthe grapevine, not the garland. More importantly, we attached brown corded 100 count light strands to the grapevine. This placement will illuminate the garland at night. Lights wound around the greens are too close to assembly to properly illuminate it. I like to get the lights out there, over and above the garland.

Any materials that go outdoors have to be prepared to deal with freeze, and thaw. Every glass ornament we attached to the greens in the containers needed to be sealed with glue. Any water that would get inside and freeze would wreak havoc. The big idea here? Any element going in the garden for the holidays needs to be water tight, and securely attached. Take the time. The time it takes me to stake up a flopping Annabelle hydrangea or delphinium in bloom is 7 times the time it takes to put the plant supports in early on. Why this concern about the time it takes? Every gardener needs some free time to enjoy the results of the work they have done.

The garland got wired up in no time. For those of you who are afraid to put a screw into an exterior wall, I would suggest that the potential damage to the integrity of the wall from such a slight act is minimal. Hanging screws make hanging a garland simple. The peace of mind knowing that garland will stay put is well worth those little holes. My advice? Don’t fret over some holes in the wall 1/8 inch in diameter. Give your attention to the bigger picture.

A holiday expression in the garden takes some effort. Minimize the effort with a construction plan. Good planning can make the effort well worth the reward. This weekend promises milder temperatures. Get out there. Your family, friends, and community will appreciate it. Driving home tonight, I see so many houses in my neighborhood with holiday lighting ablaze. Love that. The installation of this project took only 2 hours. The centerpieces and greens were arranged ahead. The garland was road ready on delivery. There is no need to stand outside in cold weather longer than necessary.

This client likes red at the holidays. Integrifolia dyed red is perfect for her pots. The red glass dots enliven the greens. The garland lights will make the container glow, after hours. Red in December shines.

My crew spent a lot of time getting this project ready for installation. It was better than a day’s work. There was a lot of talk between them about the look of the finish. This I like. They review everything we do, and talk to me about it. The review from my crew-I treasure that moment. Work is one thing, but reflection and appreciation is better. Make, furiously. Reflect. Remake, or stand pat. Wade into the process. Enjoy every step of the way. Do more than you thought to do. Be generous. This is how I would describe garden making.

Brown corded lights attached to grapevine

red integrifolia centerpieces

A holiday landscape is a landscape for a moment. The winter celebration-delightful.

Posted on: November 29, 2014 15 Comments

Filed Under: Holiday, Lighting, Color Tagged With: the december garden, holiday in the garden, holiday container arrangements, holiday decor

The Holiday Dinner, 2014

A Very Merry Celebration

Michigan Holly

The Holiday Outdoors

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