Three fresh looks for the mantel

Sunset, Dec, 1994 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Professional designers show how to use material from the garden and nursery for the holidays

ON COLD WINTER NIGHTS WHEN relatives and friends gather for the holidays, festivities often center around the hearth. As the focal point of many living and family rooms, the fireplace becomes the perfect setting for adding some drama to holiday decorating, using a variety of materials collected from the garden and purchased at a nursery or flower market.

For inspiration, we asked floral designers in Oakland, San Diego, and Menlo Park, California, to design mantel decorations that would be both spectacular and surprising, yet quick to put together. What you see here takes holiday mantels beyond the typical conifer greens adorned with red and gold balls. These decorations outlast the holidays and are appropriate for any household, no matter what its faith.

"The primary goal when putting together a mantel is to be flexible and have fun with it," says Laura Secchi, of Fiori Secchi in Oakland. "Also, do it when you're not in a rush."

To start, think about the look you want. Do you prefer a relaxed, natural design or something more formal?

When collecting materials, first look in your own backyard. Many kinds of foliage, such as bay leaves, eucalyptus, nandina, pyracantha, and toyon, work well as the primary element in an arrangement. Form your basic lines using foliage, twigs, or potted plants. Then incorporate special keepsakes, such as a German Santa, an old-fashioned angel, or an antique menorah. Accent the arrangements with berries (nandina, pyracantha, toyon) and fruit (red or green apples, kumquats and other citrus, pomegranates).

If you're having several parties, you can change the look by exchanging fruit for potted bulbs, for instance, or by making the arrangement more formal with red and white roses and candlesticks. For safety, keep materials away from lighted candles and open fireplace flames.

CALIFORNIA COUNTRY EMBELLISHED WITH GOLD

For his country look, San Diego designer Rene van Rems; who represents the California Cut Flower Commission, selected materials typical of California gardens. "The subdued foliage colors are more relaxed, less traditional," he says.

Colors in his designs always relate to one another. Here he mixed the celadon of Torrey pine and cotoneaster with the celadon gray of Eucalyptus pulverulenta. For texture, he added Torrey pine cones and buds, and pods from E. nicholii and E. torquata. Florist's foam in a waterproof container keeps foliage fresh and allows van Rems to work both horizontally and vertically. Gilded apples and candies spice up the arrangement. Pieces of gold leaf (from art stores) are applied after surfaces are sprayed with a light coat of adhesive. For an antique lock, he then applies a light coat of gold spray.

WHITE-FLOWERED PLANTS ADD A FORMAL TOUCH

Jeffrey Adair, of J Floral Art in Menlo Park, chose a winter white theme using nursery plants. For a 5-foot-long mantel, he used two 6-inch and three 4-inch azaleas, two 6-inch and two 4-inch cyclamen, and two 6-inch and five 4-inch paper white narcissus. To achieve the effective, asymmetrical plant placement, Adair set some of the potted plants atop inverted clay pots. To add flowers at pot level, he angled a few pots outward, supporting them with moistened sphagnum moss (from craft supply stores or garden shops). He stuffed moss around pots to obscure them; floral adhesive anchors the moss to pot fronts. A gold wired ribbon winds through the display. Pots have watering trays; plants last about two weeks.

A "WINTER MANTEL" WITH BIRCH LOGS AND WILLOW TWIGS

Laura Secchi, of Fiori Secchi in Oakland, loves to work with found materials--plants picked from her own backyard or brought to her by customers. Secchi recommends trading clippings with neighbors and friends to increase the assortment.

For her "winter look," Secchi used a birch bark container for the base (but any brass or pottery container will do) and filled it with florist's foam. Birch bark tubes and twisted willow and birch twigs provided the basic lines and the vertical accents. For a natural alternative to ribbon, Secchi draped hemp across the mantel.

Next, she poked Natal plum foliage adorned with fruit into the foam and clustered purple hop bush and magnolia leaves across the mantel. Mattress vine twines throughout, and dried pomegranates and rose hips are colorful accents. Hemp and birch tubes can be purchased at some flower markets and from Fiori Secchi; call (510) 658-3801.