Greet Guests

This time of year, nothing in the South says “hello” better than a magnolia wreath. Each door across the front of the house is adorned with one from The Magnolia Company. Here, the exterior garden club team―Cokey Cory, Joanie McCauley, and Georgea Greaves―festooned each wreath with a big cream-and-gold bow to complement the colors inside.

Rather than wrap the front of the house with garland, lights, and other expected embellishments, the team decided to dress a bench on the porch with a garden buffet.Nearly everything in the festive arrangement can be added to the garden after the holidays. This display has three separate ideas.

First, bunches of spray roses in florist water picks are tucked into moss-covered concrete pots. (Spray roses are much less expensive than their long-stemmed cousins.) The centerpiece for the buffet is an old wooden bucket filled with freesia, eucalyptus, and goldenrod. The third element is composed of two pine seedlings and a small magnolia, which were left in plastic nursery pots and tucked into the galvanized containers; then the tops of the pots are covered with Span­ish moss. Raffia bows complete the look.