"Boo"tiful Blooms

alloween is perhaps not a traditional "flower" holiday, but there's so much out there to use in your seasonal decorating that it's a shame to not include flowers!

Almost everyone succumbs to the temptation to buy a pumpkin or two when the air turns crisp. Most will be content to seat it on the doorstep until the time comes to carve it into something ghoulish. Why not bring it inside, and with the help of some fall-colored blooms, turn that pumpkin into something you can enjoy at every meal!


You can forgo the traditional orange color for the lovely cream ones so popular now. Elevate on a
footed silver stand, enhance with a few sprigs of ivy,
and suddenly that lowly gourd is elegant! Even better, no carving involved.

This fun pumpkin looks great and is quite easy to do. Simply cut your pumpkin in half, scoop out the inside, stash a block of soaked floral foam inside, and then begin inserting your stems. A fall palette of colors would work well; favorites are mums, berries, herbs and even some branches still holding their fall leaves. Instant centerpiece. (Green Tip-toss the scooped insides into your mulch pile!)


Of course, if you just have to have more
than one, make a 'tableau' with your finds, and use one or two as the vase, decorating the rest with painted designs. Vary the colors and shapes of the pumpkins and gourds for added interest.

Here's a scary little guy you can get your kids to help you with!