Even if you're trying to economize this holiday, you don't have to give up greenery. For as little as $8, you can make a potted topiary plant that will not only enliven your holiday table this year, but in holidays to come.
"They're easy to care for and they last for years," says Steven Winterfeldt, a horticulturist at Jackson & Perkins, a nursery in Hodges, S.C.
Topiaries are living plants that have been trained into distinctive shapes, an art form that started with the Greeks and Romans. The ancient specimens were often big outdoor tableaux like the fox-and-hounds shrubbery that leap across the lawn at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton. Today, we enjoy smaller, more portable topiaries that can be easily shifted from front hall to TV room to sideboard and beyond, so they offer a variety of decorating options. Their distinctive shapes - spirals, wreaths, cones, balls and more - add a striking note to a room or entryway.
"They're a little bit formal, and they can be lightly decorated for the holidays," says Winterfeldt. "You can enjoy looking at it during Christmas, and afterward it can be undecorated and used for a table centerpiece."
Potted topiaries are made from a variety of plants - from hardy shrubs (dwarf pine, holly, boxwood, juniper) to vines (angel vine, ivy) to blooming tropicals (fragrant jasmine). If you purchase them from a garden center or catalog, expect to pay $20-$30 for tabletop topiaries such as rosemary trees; spirals and other fancier shapes can range from $40 to a couple of hundred dollars, depending on size and plant material.
Tropicals need to be inside at all times. Hardy shrub topiaries can be used either indoors or out, though it's important not to leave them indoors for too long in the winter.
"If they stay in the warmth too long, they break dormancy," says Cindy King, a horticulturist at Kingstown Farm, Home and Garden in Chestertown. "And then you put them out and the sap that has risen into the stems and needles will freeze.
"The plant will [then] keep its green for a few months, but it won't survive [for years]."
Hardy shrub topiaries can eventually be planted in the garden if you wish, though keeping them potted makes them more versatile.
"You can really change the feel through the year by changing your pot or container," says Kristine Schickenberg, owner of Schickenberg Nursery in Half Moon Bay, Calif., which specializes in topiaries.
