We have a million pine cones & gumballs. We also have the red cedars with blue berries (I love the blue), Holly trees, nandinas with red berries & the woods have a lot of ‘running cedar’*. All make beautiful natural wreaths.
One of my dearest friends, a Navy vet, died hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. It took a year to find him & it was a crazy similar circumstance of someone else getting lost (but they were rescued while he was not) that led to the discovery of his remains & recovery. He is in a Veteran’s cemetery about an hour away. For about the first 5 years after he ‘came home’, I made him a Christmas wreath from the natural materials on our place. Then we had a massive snow storm that kept me from going & something else came up the next year and the years have gone by .... I haven’t been to see him in several years. He’s been on my mind lately, so I need a visit ... if not a wreath, maybe a bouquet of berries & greens.
*Diphasiastrum digitatum is known as groundcedar, running cedar or crowsfoot, along with other members of its genus, but the common name fan clubmoss can be used to refer to it specifically. It is the most common species of Diphasiastrum in North America. It is a type of plant known as a clubmoss, which is within one of the three main divisions of living vascular plants.
Our last maple with leaves - it's a beautiful tree - the ground is covered with "gold". The last leaves won't be down until Christmas. All the other maples (8 of them) have red leaves & are already bare. I have raked up the leaves for the new compost pile.