Scenes from a Holiday-Ready Nursery

In anticipation of the Behnkes Holiday Open Houses this weekend, I took a stroll through the Beltsville store.

Trees, lots of them.  Love the smell, the best Christmas smell of all (and there are so many great ones!).

The cute pieces assembled above can be used in Fairy Gardens all year long.

Love these lanterns!  I’m imagining them at night, with lit candles in them.  Another charming feature for all year long.

These Ginger Cottages proudly hail from the good old U.S.A..  Thanks for creating jobs here!

I found the iron planter above on sale for 50% off and snaped it right up. I think it’s perfect for the empty wall in my new screened-in porch (check it out).  I’m planning to fill it with all sorts of nonliving but natural-looking elements, like the berries shown here, and maybe some faux evergreen garland, too.  I’ll be trying out a variety of plants, both fake and real, in this gorgeous new container.

Below, more pretty winter elements I’ll be using to fill the planter.  They’ll last forever or close to it.

And poinsettias are soooo gorgeous in groups like this.  Even these basic colors.

Or above, on display with hanging pots of Christmas Cactus, a houseplant I’m finally trying at home.

Santa, shown here at last year’s Open House, is returning for more quality kid time and photo opportunities.

More scenes from last year’s Open House.  The Rockville Swing Band really DOES swing, and so do our customers!  Watch for them on Saturday in Beltsville.

Photos and text by Susan Harris.