Prairie Restorations held wreath-making events this winter, and my mom and I took the opportunity to visit the Scandia location for the first time. It was fun to shop in their store while we waited for class to begin, choosing a few Christmas gifts and picking out seeds for next year’s garden. I was excited to see what kinds of dried flowers they saved to decorate our wreaths.

We each started with basket full of greenery:

… and wired the sprigs to a wreath frame.

Then we got to pick out the “ingredients” from a table full of natural materials: pine cones, pine boughs, milkweed pods, little bluestem grasses, and more.

Each attendee’s wreath had a unique look:

Sumac was a popular choice since the red stands out so well against the greenery:

After about an hour, all that was left was a table full of pine needles and other scraps. It seemed like milkweed fluff was everywhere.

My mom’s pretty wreath:

My wreath ended up as a simple, asymmetrical design using little bluestem, milkweed pods, and sumac berries. I’m already thinking about what types of materials to save from my own 2015 garden for next year’s wreath.

Turtlehead stems, coneflower seedheads, giant hyssop stalks, goldenrod fluff, and hollyhock pods all look nice when dried. I don’t have any red plants, but I have plenty of pearly everlasting, whose white sprigs would be pretty on an evergreen wreath.