Over The Garden Fence: Decorating For Christmas At Kingwood Center Gardens

Over the years I've been accused of "not getting excited about anything". But the driving force is enthusiasm. It calms people down. A good example is our garden club's involvement in Kingwood Center Gardens' efforts to decorate the former royal home for the holiday season. He grew up.

For me it started 15 years ago with starting a fire and then building a holiday diary. Back then, experienced gardeners made trees out of miniature gardening tools, many of which I found in my trash. We made an all white tree that was displayed with decorations made by garden club members. Another seasoned gardener and I went crazy at the entrance with its all-white accents: trees, snow globes with white shop fronts with icicles hanging from the top, and white-tiled villages.

The following year, another experienced gardener and I used buffalo plaid, Nordic animals including cabbage, and leather fabrics in the kitchen. The garden club switched to an elf theme and last year became the tree gnome. So I said for a year: "Judy, take over the dining room".

"Colors of Christmas" is this year's theme. Since our plans relate to the dining room, I have to admit that I chose blue. Thinking about the color blue, we will discuss some ideas to enrich the space. There are ornate frescoes, pale green curtains and rich orange chairs. That's when Becky came up with the idea for "della robbia". I have two porcelain figurines that are blue. Becky figured a copper diary plaque would work.

One afternoon we settled on blue wicker china, glasses and blue napkins. All the fruits of my house are gathered. We ordered lamps and silver and whiteware from Kingwood Loft.

If you buy more items, you will get different shapes: drop lamps, birds, butterflies. The empty boxes were wrapped in blue gift paper with different patterns and tied with a large bow.

This week we wrap flowers, bouquets, fruits, fabrics. The tree was felled thanks to Judy and Sarah while Becky and I worked to set the table. A special feature is the waterfall with live eastern hemlock, some shimva, artificial fern, white fern, orange roses and peacock feathers. We used a 4 foot glass bowl that was the centerpiece of our clubhouse table in Maumee Bay 10 years ago.

Our team includes Becky Heeber, Judy Weedman, Sarah Kalb, Jane Kepler, Karen Scott, Marilyn Strang, June Gebhardt, Susan Maynard, Shirley Chapman, Holly Studer, and Jerry and John Sams.

We consider ourselves conservative. We look into another room. Some groups have been working since last year, others since September. The library has thousands of crayons shaped into trees and Crayola crayon wreaths. The kitchen looks like the staff is busy preparing food for a big party. In the room next to us were three sages with a pile of treasure. Mr. King's room is filled with Ohio State University allegiances right by the window.

Grateful for another opportunity to share this great tradition, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and invite you to plan a visit to the area later this year. Then you will understand why Kingwood attracts thousands of visitors.

Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flower Club, a certified horticulturalist, Ohio Garden Club Association flower show judge and former sixth grade teacher.

This article originally appeared on the Bucyrus Telegraph forums. The Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club Christmas tree in Kingwood