As Winter approaches and the garden goes into a somewhat dormant stage, I start to concentrate on festive garden themed projects leading up to Christmas.  This year I am using my container, which already has a small evergreen tree in it, for my outdoor decor by the front door.  (I have placed some battery operated small white lights on the tree to liven it up at night).  I was fortunate this year to pick up some birch branches which gives the planter height in the back.  As much I would like to have fresh red berries or white snowberries,  I do have to resort to artificial ones (the dollar store is a great resource for this).  Sadly I have about three berries on my holly bush and the snowberries are deteriorating now.   Other accents include pine cones and silver or gold adornments which gives the container the festive look.  My last touch is spraying a little fake snow.  You can decide what theme works best for you.  Where as I tend to go with traditional colours, my daughter prefers a silver and white style;  although this year she has intermixed gold accents.  The blue spruce branches goes great with silver.

Next project is the outdoor wreath.  I try to get out and collect the various greens from fir, cedar to spruce before it really gets cold and place them in a bucket of water until I am ready to start.  I slowly work round the wreath inserting my various greens. The fun part again is attaching the berries, pine cones and ribbon with a touch of fake snow spray.  With the left over materials I placed them in a wooden container to create a further display outside by side entrance.  

Each year without fail I like to bring Spring into the house by potting up forced bulbs.  My favourite has always been the paperwhites but more recently I have starting buying an amaryllis bulb as well.  I tend to stick to traditional red as this fits in with my inside decorations.  It is always tricky to decide when is the best time to plant them so that they bloom in time for Christmas.  Rule of thumb is 4 to 6 weeks before but it all depends on how warm it is in your house as to when they will actually bloom.  

Apart from the outdoor lights I am all set for this year.