Magical Christmas Decor Tour That Feels Like a Hallmark Movie plus Candid Q&A with Friends

It's already doing some damage in here. Look at her basket. Here I'm with my friends Steffi, Catherine, Karen, Maureen, Laura. Hi it's Steff and today we're at a beautiful nursery in South Kingston, Rhode Island called The Farmer's Daughter. I've taken you here before but I hadn't had a chance to get here yet this season and I made plans to meet with a few of my Instagram friends who are also gardeners and we're out for lunch but we're also going to check out this beautiful nursery because they have such gorgeous seasonal displays for the holidays. So I thought that I could take you along and a little bit later we are going to get to meet some of those friends and I have some fun questions planned for them. So let's go ahead and hang out. Friends are all here. We're all going to have a great day today, right girls? This nursery is absolutely beautiful so if you are in the New England area and close to Rhode Island you might want to make a trip here especially in the spring but right now they are all decorated for Christmas. They have some beautiful spots that you can take some photos with the kids. Look at this red sleigh. Lots of Christmas trees. They have a whole area for Christmas trees and all of these beautiful little houses, greenhouses that are fully decorated with tons of ornaments and seasonal decor. Look at this. They have that hairy balls plant right outside the door. Karen likes the hairy balls plant too. Which one? A lot of these rooms have themes. This one kind of looks like an old-fashioned Christmas. Look at these beautiful ornaments. I'm always amazed at how much they pack into these houses. A lot of inspiration to be had. Let me know in the comments, have you decorated for Christmas yet? I will be hosting Thanksgiving this week but because Christmas is only four weeks from Thanksgiving this year, I believe it was last year also, I have already decorated. Even though it's not what I like to do, I usually like to wait until Thanksgiving is over before jumping into Christmas. I feel like the short distance between holidays has made me have to decorate a bit earlier so that we get to enjoy these beautiful Christmas ornaments a bit longer. This place is just gorgeous. Look at these beautiful deer made out of tapestry. I'm very much into this natural and rustic decor. Look at these beautiful ball ornaments hanging from this old ladder. Such a beautiful blue velvet butterfly. I came here with George a couple of years ago, until not last year, the year before. We had our yearly holiday where we like to spend the day together, finishing up some Christmas shopping, wrapping, maybe having breakfast or lunch. And he actually also really enjoys coming here. And my beautiful friend Maureen from Parsons Peonies, we did a garden tour at her house. She has a beautiful arbor garden, just a beautiful garden, and we've taken some trips together. So you've seen Maureen. My first question to you is a favorite plant you grew this season. I would say probably geraniums that I grew from seed. I think that they just, you just get so much bang for your buck out of them and they are winter hardy. They last, they're still in my garden now, even with these low temperatures. And they get really big, so they fill spaces. And I feel like it's a good way to save money on annuals. Was it easy to grow from seed? Super easy to grow from seed. Was this your first year or? No, this is my second year. And I love trying new varieties. I get the leaves, even just the leaves themselves, the foliage, I love. So geraniums. Geraniums. I feel like, yeah. And then my last question is a plant that you love to hate. Probably roses, just because they're so stunning, but they have they just get so diseased sometimes. And they really, a lot of work, put it that way. You can get them so they're, they're nice and fresh and like look beautiful all the time, but it's just a lot of upkeep. But I do love them. Me too. Those are some great answers. Thank you so much, Maureen. No problem. Merry Christmas, everyone. Look at these beautiful large crates with all of this greenery in them. Some white pine, looks like some arborvitae, and a tall obelisk with some lights. They look like a Christmas tree standing tall in the center. Very beautiful. And something that any one of us could really put together. I just had some pallets that I had to give away. Someone picked them up and used them for something. But look at this. You could make a large box like this out of pallets with a planter in the center. And let's go into this Christmas house. This is like a barn style. Look at this. Let me just pan you around while there's no one in here. Isn't this just gorgeous? Such a magical place this time of year. I love those grapevine wreath orbs with the lights. Some moss covered grapevine reindeer. This is pretty. It must take them forever to decorate with this many layers. Look at this. It's a dried florals tree. Isn't that beautiful? Some gonfrena, some amaranth, hydrangea. Looks like some marigolds. And the orange. That amaranth really does look pretty. It drapes so nicely down the tree, doesn't it? They have this pink and this white color. Absolutely beautiful. Look, some purple gonfrena. So Karen, what do you prefer to grow, veggies or flowers? What was your biggest success and biggest fail this season? I love growing vegetables. My biggest success would be the Tramancino squash. I hang it from a cattle panel trellis. The biggest one that I grew this year was 32 inches long and 15 and a half pounds. It's massive. Probably my greatest fail were parsnips. I tried growing those for the first time and they didn't take. We'll see. Root vegetables are tough. Next year. Yes, definitely next year. There are still some shrubs for sale out here. Look at this. Some winterberry. They have a couple of varieties. This is something I do have to add to my garden. I absolutely love it this time of year. This is the berry poppins. And typically you need a male pollinator as well. And it will tell you. You can plant it with the Mr. Poppins. Very hardy. USDA gardening zones three through nine are down to negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit. And it gets to be three to four feet tall and wide. And then they also have this one here by First Editions. And this one is called the wildfire winterberry. And it is also hardy in zones four through nine. It gets to be eight to ten feet tall and wide. These are gorgeous to cut from to make arrangements this time of year. As are the dogwoods, the red twig dogwoods. That is the Arctic fire. So during the spring and summer, it will have green foliage. And then in the cooler temperatures of late fall and winter, it'll have those bright red twigs. They also like moist soil. So if you have an area in the garden that stays kind of wet, dogwood are a great option. Look at this. And you can ring the bell for elf assistance. I always find this the cutest. There's the bell. Also have the orange garlands, the dried oranges. Now these are fairly simple to make. You can dehydrate them at a low temperature on your oven. But these look perfect. And it's 48 inches. They look very pretty when you put them mixed with other greenery on a garland. See, things you never knew that you could buy already made. They have some hanging from the top of this cabinet here. Look at these beautiful pups. It's like a scene out of a Hallmark movie. And my beautiful friend, Laura, from A View from the Garden here on Instagram. Laura, my question for you is your least favorite thing about your garden. I live on a very hilly one third of an acre that is mostly shade. So it is a struggle to get things to grow. And I'm sure a struggle to get things up and down that hill. Everything, all the gardening is done on second level. So everything has to go up. All the mulch, all the rocks, you know, the peastone. Everything goes upstairs before I garden. And you do it alone. I do it all by myself. You are my inspiration. You are a strong lady. And what is a piece of advice that you could give a new gardener? I think you have to figure out that sometimes the tools are worth the money. You know, I think in the beginning, you know, we're usually starting out on a lower budget. And I think you really have to figure out, like this year, I realized that I really did need, in order to do topiary kind of things, I really did need the clippers. And I had, even after all these years, I've been doing this 20 years, I did not buy those before. And now I have beautiful topiary boxwood. Beautiful. So invest in the right tools, which will make your job easier. And look for advice from people. You know, online, Instagram is kind of becoming kind of quiet. But there are amazing resources there. I agree. And my beautiful friends, that's YouTube. All right. Thanks so much, Laura. I appreciate it. Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you. Look at that. The bean boot by LL Bean. Some faux birch candles. The flame that just moved. Very pretty. Adorable little felt owl ornaments. These frosted pine cones are beautiful. I have to tell you, this place is making my heart so happy. It really does put you in that holiday spirit. I really like these wooden Christmas trees. There's a few people in here, so I didn't want to say too much as to not, you know, disturb them. These are wooden pine cones. The red boots. Very cute. There's some old garden tools mounted on the side of this garden shed. Isn't that pretty? It's a great idea. It's very busy here today. It's cool out, but it is dry. So it's a beautiful day to go out and do some Christmas shopping. There's some old doors flanking this arbor. Oh, this one's deep. I think this is the house that has lots of wreaths in it. Look at this wreath. Some fruit on it. It smells so nice in here from all this fresh cut greenery. They mount them all on this fence wall here. This one is so beautiful. Look at this one with the antlers and the blue little juniper berries. They have some bundles too, it looks like, of greenery, so you can make your own arrangements. I love this one with the birds and the orange elements. So pretty. This could definitely be fall and carry you through Christmas and the winter. Little boxwood trees, so cute. And some mantle or table centerpiece pieces. It's called a mantle piece, but you could definitely use it down the middle of a dining table for the holidays as well. Put some candles all around. And some potted amaryllis. These beautiful aged terracotta pots with some moss. They have different varieties. So there's Alaska, Lemon Star, Revelation, and they're all getting ready to bloom. So these will certainly bloom between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my best guess. This is like the payment shed, but it looks like a little country store, doesn't it? I just love it here. So many beautiful fillers and stems that you can use in your winter arrangements. Look at this boxwood, some candle rings, some magnolia bunches, winterberry. And look at this gorgeous large wreath. This is so gorgeous. Christmas wishes. Steffi, did you find something? Adorable. Very cute. I have a little village, which I'm expanding every year. Christmas village. You are a cutie. Are you going to get your Christmas photo today? I love these woven trees. So pretty. They're very in this year. I actually saw some over at the Home Goods as well. So great. This area is just so regal, right? So rich with all these beautiful deep jewel tones. I love this. I really love these like mercury glass trees and ornaments. I think I've mentioned that before. Absolutely love them. I have some pumpkins. I haven't bought the trees yet, but now I have to because they're so pretty. They're sparkly and just gorgeous. These matches? Oh, they are. This room has more blues. So gorgeous. It's like a winter wonderland in this room. I know. I was admiring the owls in another greenhouse earlier. So soft, right? Snow owl? I think that's what that's called. I know. Oh my goodness. The sleigh and all these beautiful light green colored trees are so pretty. Steffi is already doing some damage in here. Look at her basket. Don't tell anyone. I won't tell. Some pretty things. I love those trees, Steffi. So pretty. They look like melted wax a little bit, right? We have a collection of like the cottage trees at home. Or like the ceramic trees. Yeah. Look at these little paper snowflakes. I saw someone walking around with a container of these. So I think they have them for sale somewhere. Such a cute cardinal. I love these big versions of these Christmas houses. And they have a very modern aesthetic with this plaster and just white. Ultra absorbent, reusable, Swedish dishcloth. So lots of really great gift items. So beautiful. This is like a birdhouse or like some kind of terranium. With all of the trees and the little Christmas village houses set up inside. My goodness. Look at these really pretty accordion paper trees and different shades of green. I'm always absolutely smitten by this place and the level of detail. Here I'm with my friend Steffi from Grown in New England. She has a YouTube channel and an Instagram. And you've seen her on my channel before. We did a garden tour in your garden. And we did soil blocking. That you'll see that video this winter. But Steffi, what was the most popular topic on your YouTube channel this season? Or a video that people really liked? Yeah, the most watched video was my review from the Florette Zinnias. Which was in follow-up from last year's introduction of them and how they did for us. And it was fascinating to see how they grew second year round. And spoiler, it was very similar to the first year. So what is the general consensus? Do you love the Florette Zinnias? How do you feel? I love how they look. And the colors being just a little bit more muted compared to the normal bright in your face. They're very soft. Yeah, so that is still in one of my favorite color palettes in terms of Zinnia. But they don't do as well as other Zinnias in my garden. And next year we have a third iteration of this series to see how they actually perform compared to the Johnny's varieties. Which are more grown in our climate in our area. So I suspect, and we will see if my suspicion is correct, that they are going to do a lot better and a lot more healthy than those Florette Zinnias. I look forward to that. We'll see. And you grow beautiful Dahlias. You've been growing your own seed Dahlia for a couple of years. So how's that going? It's going amazingly well. And I'm happy to say that it will be available in January this year to get some tubers. And yeah, it's named after my late grandmother. And it's called what? Marlene. So I'll put Steffi's channel below. And hopefully she'll have some information for us on how to purchase one of her beautiful new Dahlia tubers. I do. Thank you. Thanks, Steffi. Let's go check out this beautiful house here. You can do it well. It's over here. So gorgeous. My mom has a Santa very similar to this golden Santa. Oh my goodness. I know I've said it before, but this is just making me so happy and I feel like I'm ready for Christmas. My grandmother used to say that the best part of Christmas is waiting for it to arrive, right? All the anticipation and the lead up to the holiday. Because once it's here, it's done, right? So this is the best time is those weeks leading up to Christmas. And all of the fun things and joyful things that we get to experience. I've noticed black is very in for this Christmas as well. Look at these beautiful evergreen planters. I recently did this in my own garden. I did post a video about it. So I just clipped evergreens from my garden and I made arrangements. And the good thing is that these are the longest lasting arrangements because they stay cool outside all season long, all winter long. They're just so fun to make. I love them. So this one has white pine and it looks like some arborvitae and some magnolia leaves, some branches. This one actually has the red twig dogwood branches. So you can get lots of inspiration from these arrangements. And you just stick them in the soil. The soil stays moist and cool and they're happy for the longest time. Very pretty. So they're not just Christmas and holiday arrangements. They're winter arrangements. And my beautiful friend Catherine from All Day I Dream About Plants. We also did a garden tour at your house. Oh yes. Beautiful garden. She's a mixed sun garden, right? You have some sun, some shade. A little bit of sun. And my questions to you are your greatest success in the garden this season and something you wish went differently. Okay, greatest success. I'd have to say, I don't know. Everything just came back so beautifully, like how I envisioned it. So I'm really proud of that. What I wish went differently, well, I had to take down some trees. So now an area that looked like really full and beautiful now needs to be kind of reworked. Yeah, that's always like the case in the garden. Things are always needing to be changed, right? Not how I planned on ending the season, but we will, you know. We will persevere. Yes. Resilience. That's the key word in the garden. And I want to turn it into something much better, so. You also started to plant some, a beautiful hedge of hydrangeas in your backyard. Yes. So that's going to be beautiful. I love that area and I can't wait to see what it does. It's going to be so gorgeous. And you, and those, what are those fire lights you have in the front there? In that border, the pink hydrangeas? So beautiful, yes. So stunning. I'm so glad I did that. Years ago, they looked gorgeous. Gorgeous. And Catherine inspired me to grow Caliminta. Oh my gosh. Isn't it the best? It's the best. It blooms at the end of the summer when all of the other cat mints are done. Yes. It is so fragrant. The pollinators love it. And I have the Montrose White, so it's a gorgeous white variety. Gorgeous. If you see it, grab it. I will. There's not enough of it. Thank you so much, Catherine, for answering these questions. I'm having a great day with you today. Thank you. So fun. Look at this. They have some kale all in these window boxes on the side of this barn type greenhouse. Isn't that beautiful? Kale loves the cool temperatures and it's edible. And because it's like a curly kale, it actually looks really pretty. Has really great texture. So that is a really great idea for fall window boxes. And this is the really warm greenhouse. We have some cyclamen in here. Look at this. Looks beautiful. And look at the color of these poinsettias. They have the most beautiful shade of salmon. So pretty. And these are more pink. Also a very beautiful color. The style of these poinsettias appear to be a bit different too, because it has these really large leaves. Or petals, I should say. Look at this gorgeous structure that they have here. Made out of logs and vines. It almost looks like it would have been like a wisteria vine, the way that it's all curled up like that. So pretty. Some more really pretty cyclamen. And what are these called? The lemon cypress. They make the topiary out of them also. Yeah, they're lemon cypress trees. Gorgeous pottery too. And of course gorgeous traditional red poinsettias. Some Thanksgiving cactus. I say it's Thanksgiving because it's about to bloom, and it's Thanksgiving week. But it could be a Christmas cactus, right? They have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter varieties. And you can tell the difference by their foliage. And by when they bloom. And some more cyclamen. And antherium. This is another plant you see a lot this time of year, and even through Valentine's Day. In shades of pink and red. These look so good. The foliage on these is so dark that it looks like green velvet. Look at that. This is a beautiful urn here. And such a large piece lily. It's blooming. It likes the heat in this greenhouse. Oh my goodness, this is a beautiful color of cyclamen too. The foliage is more silvery. And it's like a deep red, Christmas red. What a beautiful pot with this ivory colored poinsettia. Isn't that so pretty? And then they have some more inside this wagon. But look at this. They have some paperwhite bulbs. Let me know, do you like paperwhites? They have a very strong fragrance, so you either love them or hate them. I have a friend who mentioned that if she plants her paperwhites in a planter around Halloween, that it blooms in time for Christmas. And some hellebore, which I absolutely love and have a bunch in my garden. These are also known as lenten rose. And they bloom for me at some point at the end of February, beginning to mid-March. Such a beautiful sight at the end of the long winter. I love these sweet ladies. Look at these homemade gifts. Some tomato curry. What is this? Tomato curry jam. And then some peach jam made by Steffi, grown in New England. And then a Cape Cod cranberry hot pepper jelly made by Karen. And Steffi also made these beautiful bracelets for all of us. It says Bloom. It's our friendship bracelets. She wrapped them so beautifully. Look at that. So lucky to have this beautiful group of friends. And look at these nuts. They're delicious. I've already started to snack on them as an appetizer. We're at an Italian place called Pasquale's. It's a Neapolitan pizza place. I ordered some butternut squash ravioli and I'm really excited about it. Let's open this up. Such a beautiful ribbon too. I love the color. Let's look at it together. Look at that. It says Bloom. So beautiful. This appetizer looks amazing. This is some mozzarella, some prosciutto. What is this, Catherine? It's like a biscuit. It's almonds. It's so good. It sounds weird but it goes with everything. It looks delicious. Look at this gorgeous Neapolitan pizza. Doesn't that look amazing? Looks so good. What kind is this one? Sausage and ravi. This is like a broccoli rabe, right? My in-laws make this for Christmas Eve dinner. Yeah, the broccoli rabe. Yeah, with codfish. Bacalhau because we're Portuguese. But I guess Italian people do bacalhau too, right? Some butternut squash ravioli with some pistachios on top. I can't wait to dig in. Maureen and I are heading home after our day of having lunch and going to the nursery. And I was telling her that I saw this beautiful cyclamen at the farmer's daughter. And look at this. She bought it. This is the one that we were looking at that had that beautiful silvery foliage with the Christmas red blooms. And it's just so pretty. So I just had to show you. A couple of weeks ago, I had an at-home video where I asked for your opinion on which set of dishes I should use for the Thanksgiving holiday. And there was a clear-cut winner. So let's go ahead and put the table together. Take me back, all the way back to the days Running around in a crowd, barefoot No mistake ever kept me late We spent summers catching fireflies And winters on our skates Well, as you can see, the set that won was the more ornate set. And I'm so glad that you gave me those opinions because I think it looks beautiful. And I'm really happy with the way this year's Thanksgiving table turned out. And if you've made it this far, we have a special announcement. Our friends at Vigo Garden have offered to send one of our viewers a $300 gift certificate. If you've been around the channel for a while, you know that we use and love Vigo products. A couple of years ago, we did a renovation of our raised bed garden and changed out all of our wooden raised beds to metal raised beds. And we have loved them. They have held up beautifully. In fact, I just showed an update in a recent video. We also installed a couple of retractable hoses that have been wonderful. And throughout all this time, every once in a while, Vigo will offer one of our viewers one of these items, which has been so gracious of them. And because they are such a wonderful partner, I am so happy to join them in providing one of you with one of these gift cards so that you can try one of their products as well. So not only are they a great company, but their products are wonderful also. So all you have to do is leave a comment down below on something that you are grateful for this Thanksgiving season. And in about a week, I will use a random comment selector to choose a comment to send out that gift certificate. And if you're ever in the market for any gardening related supplies, such as a raised bed, a retractable hose, or even seed starting supplies, consider VigoGarden. In all of my videos, I have a direct link to the Vigo website, and I have a exclusive hooked and rooted promo code that you can use alongside any sale that they might be running. So thank you so much to all of you for watching our videos, for your support, for leaving us wonderful comments. We are so grateful for all of you. And thank you so much to VigoGarden for, again, offering this to our viewers and for being a great partner. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Thank you so much for spending your time with us, and we'll catch you in the next one.