By Ruth Ancona, U. C. Master Gardener

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

For a gracious garland that will last through Christmas and into the New Year, use evergreens or boxwood to drape your mantelpiece, doorways or windows. Wire the foliage to a braid of jute, using florists' wire. Overlap the individual branches as you make your way along the jute. Arrange your fall decorations among the foliage and replace them as the seasons change.

For Thanksgiving use colorful fall leaves, tiny pumpkins, bunches of wheat and wired-on pinecones. At Christmas, replace the autumn decorations with holly and ivy. For the New Year, frosted white pinecones and icicle-tipped branches can complete the garland.

You can fashion another garland from small dried gourds and drape it over doorways and windows to welcome your guests. Clean the gourds by soaking them overnight in a bleach solution. Use a plate or two to keep them submerged, then remove and let them dry thoroughly. Drill holes through the neck of each gourd, using a clamp to hold the gourd in place. Dried apple slices and nuts can also be drilled to add to the garland. Thread twine on a large needle or rug hook and string the gourds, apples and nuts, alternating them for the best effect. You can wire or hot-glue clusters of bright fall leaves and flowers to the ends of the garland. Lengths of ribbon add a final touch.

For a fragrant welcome in the guest bathroom or entryway, a wreath fashioned from dried sage and rosemary is ideal. Wire the herbs to a ready-made dried grapevine wreath, tucking in bunches of wheat here and there. The jewel tones of mini corncobs add splashes of color, and fresh herb flowers complete your handmade guest wreath.

Pumpkins are a natural at Thanksgiving, appearing both on the menu and in centerpieces. For your Thanksgiving table, transform one into a colorful pumpkin vase.

Select as round a pumpkin as you can find. Cut off the top and remove the interior seeds and strings. Place a plastic paint bucket or other plastic container inside. Put a cube of green floral foam inside the container, trimming it to fit. Press the foam down to make it level, then drench it with water so that a small pool collects at the bottom of the container.

Arrange seasonal flowers, dried leaves and berries as desired. Dahlias, maple leaves and pyracanthus berries are good choices. Orange roses and sunflowers are a striking combination, too. Cattails, chrysanthemums, Gerbera daisies and kale are other possibilities.

A pumpkin can reappear on the Thanksgiving table as a holder for the turkey dressing, or use the small 'Jack-be-Nimble' pumpkins as individual dressing bowls. You can bake the dressing in the mini pumpkins, reserving the tops for little hats.

Squashes and gourds are also good candidates for centerpieces. Hollow them out and fill with fresh flowers, wheat and rosemary. It may be necessary to trim a slice off of the bottom to make them sit upright. For a striking translucent effect, hollow out the squash and then carefully carve your design, taking care not to cut all the way through the wall of the squash. The resulting thin membrane left in the design will come to life when you place a votive candle inside the squash.

Decorate the table itself with clusters of nuts and fruits tucked in and around large serving plates and bowls. Individual place settings can be decorated with ivy and oak leaves for extra festivity. Tape fall leaves and flowers to stem goblets, hiding the tape with a ribbon. For simple and effective place settings, sandwich colorful fall leaves between clear glass plates.

For candlesticks at the holiday table, insert candles into small gourds or mini pumpkins. Artichokes can also be used as unusual candleholders. Cut the bottom off and separate the center leaves enough to insert a taper candle. Some of the inner leaves may have to be trimmed away to accommodate the taper. Oranges are also good candleholders and can be stabilized with cloves stuck in a circle around the bottom for feet. More cloves can then be used for further decoration.

Look to your garden for materials to celebrate the harvest season and your Thanksgiving will indeed be merry.