Brighten your door with this classic Fallbrook wreath; Conversation flows easily over this long low table centerpiece

Holiday decorations in retail stores are tempting homeowners earlier than ever this year; however, Fallbrook Garden Club members Margaret-Ann Ashton, Dee Brooks and long-time resident and garden expert Donna Schaffer say, “Before you buy, look around you!” In Fallbrook, fresh materials for holiday decorations grow year ’round.

A wonderful benefit of Fallbrook’s mild climate is its prevailing green landscape, never-ending blush of flowers and trees laden with fruit. When decorating for December holidays, each of these three experts in flower and greenery arranging sharpen their pruning shears, loop a basket over an arm and step outside.

“I like to use Toyon berries,” says Dee Brooks. Their flash of bright red against deep green leaves typify a traditional color scheme. Toyon is a California native plant that flourishes in the Fallbrook area, both in wildlands and in gardens planted with native plant materials. Another red berry that holds its color and stays on the stem through December is Pyracantha. Brooks also likes to use bunches of pepper berries trimmed from California Pepper trees. Schaffer adds sprays of Nadina berries. Although their fresh color is vibrant, they may drop berries earlier than the other two plants, she says. Using these plants for décor outside has a side benefit: birds love them! Look to your own garden and landscape for these plants or ask neighbors if you can clip a few stems. A friendly warning, though: if you spot attractive foliage in a stranger’s landscape or along a public road, make sure you ask permission to cut. Margaret-Ann Ashton warns against “road-side-a,” a coined word meaning “plants you see along the roadside that may grow on private property.” And, in November and December, beware of the brilliant red vine weaving through Fallbrook’s fall landscape. It’s Poison Oak.

For the most recognized of December holiday decorations, Ashton and Brooks suggest a variety of pines, cedars and fir trees. Schaffer combines many varieties of greens along with trimmings from conifers to craft wreathes, swags and table centerpieces. She selects from rosemary, holly, eucalyptus and Protea.

“Magnolia leaves are beautiful during December,” adds Ashton, referring to their broad, dark green and shiny surface with tawny red undersides. Like rosemary, any woody herb will stand up to a month-long decoration if given water or used in a cool outside area. Thyme, some of the sages and marjoram fall into this category. Avoid Mexican Sage in an indoor area; its pungent odor is overpowering. Variegated Pittosporum with its leaves of cream and green add light to an otherwise all-green arrangement. The silvery shimmer of Westringia almost glows. Choose inexpensive fresh fruit to add color to all-green arrangements or to highlight red berries. Golden pears, burgundy pomegranates, green apples and limes, even bright orange persimmons mounded in a bowl surrounded by greenery reflect a festive holiday spirit, says Ashton. She’s a professional florist who speaks with authority on all subjects “floral.”

Dee Brooks likes to add red Carnations or white Spider Chrysanthemum to arrangements. “Trim and stick the stems into a tiny vial of water that can be affixed to an arrangement with wire,” she says. These inexpensive flowers are plentiful and available at supermarkets. Brooks is a certified flower show judge and has chaired Fallbrook’s Garden Club show several times. She reminds amateur arrangers of a height rule for a table centerpiece. “The overall height should be no greater than the length of a forearm,” she says, then demonstrates by resting her elbow on a table and placing her chin on her closed fist.

Donna Schaffer suggests trading trimming decorations like raffia bows, dried cones and discarded Christmas ornaments with friends to create decorations specific to your own home. She collects decorations year ’round and offers them to guests crafting holiday decorations in her sunny garden. Schaffer is well-known in garden circles for her annual greenery parties in Fallbrook and in Long Beach.

All three women agree that using family heirlooms, cultural collections or hobbies that reflect a homeowner’s family life are important to decoration. Brooks, whose roots are in Scandinavia, arranges holiday bouquets in painted tin pitchers. In Ashton’s family, a discarded bird’s nest that typifies rebirth is always evident. Ashton also combines old with the new by combining dried materials with fresh ones. “I grew artichokes just for their blooms,” she says. Once dry, the bristled heads can be left natural or sprayed gold or silver. A Manzanita twig wreath embellished with dry artichokes, papery-petaled hydrangea blooms and silver ribbons hangs on the entry wall of her home. She also clips supple grapevine trimmings, then shapes them into wreaths to dry then hold fresh greenery and sprigs of berries tucked neatly into their twisted form.

Whether you’re a decorating novice or an old pro, remember the wise advice of these three Fallbrook experts: “Before you buy, look around you!” Then, sharpen your pruning shears and go outside, because in Fallbrook, fresh materials for holiday decorations grow year ’round.