It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at George Walton's Meadow Garden in Augusta, with candles in every window and fresh greenery throughout the historic house.
Magnolia leaves and red velvet bows climb the staircase railing just as they may have in the late 1700s and early 1800s when Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived there.
Fragrant pine boughs, cones and candles form the centerpiece on the dining room table. In a room across the hall, the shutters are decorated with small sprays of holly, and a garland of bay leaves encircles dried hydrangeas in the center of a table. And where there is a mantel, there is natural greenery from Redcliffe Plantation in Beech Island.
"All of the greenery we use is from the kinds of trees and shrubs that grew during the time George Walton lived in the house," said Louise Henry, curator for the Georgia State Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mrs. Henry has been instrumental in the restoration and maintenance of the house for the past six years, as well as with decorating it for last Saturday's Christmas open house. She and other DAR volunteers keep the house open to the public.
The greenery was holding up fairly well into this week, even though of necessity, it had been cut several days before the open house, she said.
"We cut it Monday, and then it was too cold for two days for us to do anything with it, so it doesn't look as fresh now as it did during the open house," she said.
According to experts, the key to keeping live wreaths and trees looking fresh and alive during the holidays is to cut the greenery right before you plan to use it. Also important is choosing greenery that does not dry out fast, said Sid Mullis, coordinator for the University of Georgia Extension Service in Richmond County.
"Let's say you're having a party next Friday night," Mr. Mullis said. "Don't cut it until right before you're going to use it. If you do cut it earlier, stick it in a bucket of water. That will certainly help it keep longer."
Hollies and magnolia leaves are good choices for arrangements because they rank on the higher end of staying fresh a long time, Mr. Mullis said.
For wreaths and garlands, set the garden hose nozzle on mist and spray them before hanging outside.
"Even after you hang it up outside, it's good to spray it again every few days," said Paul Stuntz, tree-lot manager for Fat Man's Forest on Laney-Walker Boulevard. "Even inside, if you have one of those plant misters, that helps, too. And of course people hang them over fireplaces, and that's the worst place because the heat dries them out. If you have a heat vent near where you place the tree, close it."
MEADOW GARDEN1320 Independence Drive at 13th Street and Walton Way; home of George Walton, early Georgia governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, by appointment Saturdays; $4 adults and college students, $3.50 seniors, $3 high school students, $1 third-eighth grades and 50 cents kindergarten-second grade, group rates; 724-4174.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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