Hi, I'm Tricia, an organic gardner. I grow organically for a healthy
and safe food supply,
for a clean and sustainable environment,
and an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
The holiday season is just around the corner.
Today we're going to be making
a beautiful holiday wreath with succulent plants.
If you live in a colder area and you want to display your wreath outdoors
use hardy succulents.
Some of the hardy succulents I'm using are Sempervivum and Sedum.
Check out the book "Hardy Succulents"
for more information and a list of plants.
To make your wreath you'll need a wire wreath frame, some loose sphagnum moss,
mesh tubing,
cuttings of succulents, a pen and some hair pins.
You can also use pre-made sphagnum moss
wreath form.
Two to three inch cuttings of succulents are ideal.
You might want to remove the last couple
of leaves to get a longer stem to work with.
Leave the cuttings out overnight to let the ends callous over.
If you want to make your own sphagnum moss wreath frame cut a piece of nylon mesh
tubing just a few inches longer than your wire wreath frame.
Stuff the tubing with loose sphagnum moss.
Once the mesh is stuffed it will look like a straw waddle.
To start soak your wreath frame until it's fully saturated.
Use the floral wire or string to attach the moss filled mesh to the wreath frame.
If you're using a pre-made wreath soak it as well.
Now it's time to put your cuttings
into the wreath.
Poke a hole with the pen to make sliding to succulent into the hole easy.
You can use hair pins to secure the succulents.
Don't pack a succulents too tightly
you want to give them room to grow.
Once you have your wreath filled out you can tuck some sphagnum moss
around the succulent style to hide the frame.
The succulents will eventually grow over the moss,
but this allows you to display it right away
before they've had a chance to do that.
and if you lay horizontally for about a week or so they'll root in quicker.
To care for your wreath place it in a bowl of water for about ten minutes and let it
dry out between waterings. Your wreath will last about a year if well cared for.
So give the gift of a living wreath this year
and grow organic for life.