Whether one is guided by one’s inner child (Yippee! It’s the holiday season!) or the Grinch (I’m counting the days until nothing happens!), the reality is that the holidays are upon us, and we celebrate vigorously one of its stellar components — multi-tasking.

Everybody is involved in the process including the main menu items for the festive dinners. The turkey that comes golden and intact to the table appears again as sandwiches, possibly hash and ultimately soup.

Since foods, wrapping paper and even some gifts are asked to assume several roles throughout the festive weeks, couldn’t we ask fresh flowers and holiday greens to do the same?

Lori Anderson, owner of Heritage Nursery, Doug Hesnard, freelance designer and Master Gardener, and I put our heads together to offer some suggestions for obtaining maximum use and pleasure from local, fresh holiday greens.

Our project could be used variously as a centerpiece, mantle or table decoration, Christmas table wreath, door wreath and New Year’s decoration. Here’s how:

Anderson made a small (outside diameter about 12 to 14 inches) wreath of fresh, local mixed greens — pine tips, juniper and spruce. Hand-made on a single wire, the finished product can be pulled into a slightly oblong shape from its original round shape if the situation calls for it.

Freshly cut greens can be kept in good condition by soaking them for short periods of time in cold water and/or spraying them with an anti-desiccant product such as Wilt-Stop. Spraying has no effect on material that has been cut earlier (as the wreaths and greens that are imported for sale in some stores).

Candles in arrangements

When using candles (open flames) around greens, keep the following suggestions in mind:

- Put chimneys around tall candles, especially pillars.

- Keep tealights and votives in containers with sides higher than the flame.

- When using pillar candles, light the candle and let it burn to form a basin that will accommodate a tealight candle and its metal container. Then, blow out the candle’s flame, insert and light the tealight. That allows for a flame, but the original pillar will stay neat at its original height and new tealights (candles and container) can be inserted as needed.

- Always be alert and present when there is the combination of fresh greens (or flowers) and candles.

A quick-change act

One basic wreath that was the focal point in late autumn or for Thanksgiving can be changed with the addition of fruits or flowers. Here’s how:

- Silk or plastic objects can be cut from their stems with a pair of side cutting shears. Wrap the open end (usually a sharp end of plastic and wire) with floral tape and tape (or wire) the selected piece to a wooden floral pick and insert it in the wreath.

- Bows can also be made, wired to a floral pick and inserted where needed.

- Fresh flowers can be cut to about a 2-inch stem. Insert the stem into a water-filled floral pick (available inexpensively at almost every flower shop) and add living flowers (or snippets of ivy and other greens) to the wreath.

Make it personal

Because all the embellishments to a wreath are temporary — that is, easily removed — it is easy to make the decorations reflect the family. Everyone has different family traditions and Christmas memories, but consider the following options:

- Small photographs of grandchildren set in the wreath in bought or homemade frames.

- Some treasured hand-made or antique tree ornaments.

- Selected collectibles.

Welcome at the door

After Thanksgiving, expand the wreath’s size by putting it inside a grapevine wreath (attach with florist’s wire), adding cones and a large bow.

Then, attach it to the door to welcome all who visit during the holidays.

There’s more

Don’t forget New Year’s celebrations. Noisemakers and confetti can be incorporated into the wreath — or the center space of the wreath could hold the chip bowl.

The 12th Day

For traditionalists, Christmas begins on Christmas Day and the 12 days run through Epiphany — Jan. 6, 2007. With a little care (give the wreath a cool, wet break from time to time) your home, your family and friends can enjoy a multi-tasking fresh wreath for the full holiday season.

Anderson indicated that a custom-made table-sized wreath (such as we used) could begin at $25 with the price based on what the customer requests.

The tools are all common, easy to find and inexpensive at hobby and floral shops. We used side-cutting pruners, scissors, floral and paddle wire, floral and water picks, ribbon, Old World-style Christmas ornaments from the Museum Store at The Journey Museum, and pre-made seasonal picks and artificial, fresh flowers from Heritage Nursery.

Surely in the winter holiday months, one of the loveliest gifts we receive is the opportunity to enjoy native Black Hills greens in our homes. Enjoy them in every way possible.