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Best Greenery to Use for Wreaths and Floral Arrangements

Everyone always thinks flowers, but did you know that greenery is just as important, especially when making a wreath or floral arrangement?  When I first starting making wreaths, greenery was my weak point.  I never really knew much about greenery except for the leaves that were on the flowers.  Today I am going to tell you some of my favorite greeneries I use and the purposes they serve. I will also include pictures on the bottom to show you what they look like! 


Boston Fern:This type of Boston Fern is perfect for whimsical, full, wildflower types of wreaths.  This fern kind of goes with the flow and you can position it in a wild way to give your wreath a fuller effect.

Boston Fern:This type of Boston Fern gives your wreaths and arrangements a dramatic look.  Often, the leaves are quite dark, long, and bold.

Eucalyptus Bush: This is a smaller, more condensed eucalyptus. I use this when I am making a full wreath.  

Long Leaf Eucalyptus: This style of eucalyptus has a longer, thin leaf that not only gives a full effect, but also can extend beyond the grapevine to make your wreath even longer.

Silver Dollar Eucalyptus: This eucalyptus is flat and rounded.  I usually use this as an accent with other greenery.

Bucklers Fern: This fern usually comes in three narrow pieces per stem.  I love using it as an accent to give a wreath a whispy, wild look.

Salal Leaves: These to me are my fancy leaves.  They are a bit on the expensive side. They also do not really cover a lot of ground like the first Boston Fern does, but I use them as a greenery statement piece for the greenery as they stand out and have a unique look to them.  

Shikabu Leaves: These leaves are one of my favorite to use in my floral arrangements.  They are full, but not too full and can be used as a great filler in your arrangement to separate the flowers.

River Fern: These leaves are similar to bucklers fern.  But they are a darker green and thinner.

Leather Leaf: This is feathery type of greenery if that makes sense.  I often use it as a filler to cover the grapevine in addition to using it for layers that hang outside of the wreath to give it a more whimsical, garden look.

Lamb's Ear: Everyone's favorite greenery.  Lamb's ear is a light greenish grey that is soooo soft to touch.  It also creates a very soft look.  Usually I will create a wreath using all lamb's ears.

Dusty Miller: This is a similar color to lamb's ear.  I like to use dusty miller as an accent to my pieces, especially floral arrangements.

Begonia Leaves: This is a bolder, less versatile greenery due to its' busier design and bold purple color.  I use begonia leaves in both wreaths and arrangements as accents.

Variegated Leaves: There are so many types of variegated leaves.  Usually they are light green and white, dark green and white, or pink, green, and white.  I love using these leaves as an accent for pieces that are of a garden type, whimsical style.


Below are different pictures of arrangements and wreaths using many of the greenery listed above.

This floral arrangement features both lamb's ear and eucalyptus bush.

The leaves on the bottom center and to the right are variegated leaves.

This wreath features both Boston Fern and Bucklers Fern.
  
This wreath features Salal Leaves, Eucalyptus, and Buckler's Fern. From the top left is salal leaves, then eucalyptus, and then dangling on the top right is the bucker's fern.

The greenery used in this floral arrangement is long leaf eucalyptus which is on the bottom right and shikabu leaves that you can see right above. 

On the bottom of this floral arrangement you can see the begonia leaves featuring a bright green and various shades of purple.

This wreath is a mixture of Boston Fern and Leather Leaf Fern.  The top right piece of fern is a Leather Leaf fern.  You can see that it is a bit darker, smaller, and more narrow than the Boston Fern.

This wreath has burgundy and green eucalyptus but also features the dark green boston fern which you can see on the top in the middle.  Towards the middle left of the wreath I am using River Fern.

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