Members of the Memphis Garden Club once again turned the Dixon Gallery and Gardens into holiday heaven by takingfull advantage of the hollies, boxwoods, magnolias, cedars and junipers on the 20-acre site in East Memphis.

The current art exhibit at the Dixon is all about artful duck decoys and hunting so club members decided their decorations should be all about nature.

With dried red amaranthus and grape bunches hanging on its branches, a tree in the Catmur Foyer evokes the feeling of being in a vine-covered southern forest. Birds in nests, bunches of dried wheat, pine cones, various berries, curly willow on top and a burlap tree skirt continue the theme.

In the dining room, branches of deciduous red holly and greenery make a striking centerpiece.

In other rooms, club members used potted bulbs and plants with greenery and berries to make appealing arrangement. Paperwhite narcissi, white and red amaryllis, white cyclamens and white kalanchoes pair with evergreens to make subtle yet effective holiday statements.

“Everything is organic and natural this year,” said Greg Francis, the floriculturist at the Dixon who cut all of the greenery and berries used in the decorations.

The tree in the room housing the Warda Stout porcelain collection is the only exception. It is makes a nod to contemporary notions and child-appeal with its bold purple and red ornaments.

If purple and red seem shocking, consider Betty Thompson’s notion that purple, red AND bright pink are this year’s hot holiday colors.

She combined purple liatris with red and pink carnations in a centerpiece she made during a demonstration last week at the Memphis Botanic Garden.

An award-wining floral designer from Decatur, Ga., Thompson completed several unique designs in a program sponsored by garden clubs in District 1 of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs.

Thompson collects and configures bold containers such as a set of three tall tubes made from mailing tubes and covered with white textured wallpaper. She was delighted to have some white orchids, her favorites, clipped from the botanic garden’s collection to place in the tubes. Set into the top of the tubes was an empty yogurt cup fill with wet floral foam to hold the stems.

In the center of a gold metal Christmas tree form, Thompson worked wonders with a few sprigs of greenery.
She also passed along some great tips:

* If you aren’t in the mood for a traditional Christmas tree, take a sturdy branch with numerous twigs and spray it gold. Place it in a pot (also sprayed gold) filled with floral foam for dried materials. Hang ornaments from the twigs.

* To condition tulips, place cut stems in a little vodka and count to 10. Then put the stems in warm water.

* If you want to make an arrangement in a tall vase with a small opening, place the top part of a two-piece plastic champagne glass in the opening. Place a piece of wet floral foam in the bowl of the glass and secure it with floral tape. The foam will allow you to use more stems in the design.

* Gently blow into a carnation or alstroemeria bud that is too tight. The warm air will cause the flower to open.

* Use plumber’s goop (adhesive) to attach paper tubes to a base. It forms a tight clear seal.

* Thompson likes to put foliage into an arrangement last. “Some people do it first,” she said. “But I find I use entirely too much if I add it at the beginning.”

(I'll post more photos on holiday decorating a little later)