Anne Bowen Dabney (left) and Heather Barrie guide attendees through designing wreaths.
Dabney and Barrie gathered many materials from nature—an inexpensive approach that lends a sense of place to a display.
Workshop attendees are outfitted with supplies.
A workshop-goer puts together a spray of evergreen sprigs, including pine, sapphire cedar, and boxwood.
”It was amazing to get guidance from designers at the top of their game,” says Charleston garden editor Joan McDonald.
It’s best to layer on bundles of accent ingredients—like kumquats and ilex berries—before filling the form with greenery.
”An accent area is fun because you have versatility in how you hang it—centered or to one side,” says Barrie.
In the Aiken-Rhett’s second-floor drawing room, a mantel bursts with Japanese maple, trailing ivy, spray roses, dusty miller, nandina, elephant ears, and more.
The back lot of the conserved (not restored) residence
