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Living Centerpiece


Living centerpieces work well when you want to dress up your table for a special occasion. Potted plants last longer than cut flowers and make equally attractive centerpieces.

Dennis Shrader of Landcraft Environments shares lovely living centerpiece ideas on "The Martha Stewart Show."

Living Centerpiece

A living centerpiece is made up of living potted plants. With minimum care, you can have a centerpiece that will last for months.

When you're finished with the centerpiece, take it apart and keep the plants for house plants or incorporate them into outdoor planters. 

Living centerpieces also work well on outdoor dining tables, where they can spend an entire season outside. Depending on the theme of the dinner, an assortment of objects can be added to the centerpiece to accompany the plants.

Featured Centerpieces
Tropical Round Centerpiece
Cattleya orchid
Selaginella 'Red Spike' Moss
Pellaea rotundifolia, button fern
Nephrolepis cordifolia 'Duffi,' lemon button fern
Phalaenopsis 'Mini Purple'
Neoregilia 'Mo Pepper Please'
Neoregilia 'Tiger Cub'
Blechnum gibbum 'South American Tree Fern'
Cryptanthus 'Ruby'
Cryptanthus 'Chocolate Soldier'
Club moss

Caring for the Tropical Round Centerpiece
Check for water every few days; if the whole centerpiece fits in a sink, water it that way or take it apart and water the plants individually. If the centerpiece is far from a window, you may have to move it to a windowsill during the day.

Sea/Beach Centerpiece
Kalanchoe thrysifolia 'Paddle Plant'
Tillandsia bulbosa
Tillandsia caput madusae
Tillandsia lonantha rubra
Cryptanthus 'Ruby'
Cryptanthus 'Rainbow Star'
Echeveria rosea
Echeveria 'Topsy Turvy'
Aloe haworthioides
Pachypodium sp.

Caring for the Sea/Beach Centerpiece
Most of these plants like it a bit drier, so they'll need less water then the tropical arrangement. They also need more light and should be moved to a sunny window at least a few days a week. When the plants grow out of the centerpiece, move them outside, display them as individual plants, or combine them with others to make a new arrangement.

The Martha Stewart Show, March 2009