© Janet Davis
In autumn, nature rewards us with blazing foliage and fields of
summer-ripened vegetables. As we gather
around the table to celebrate the year’s harvest, it’s fitting to incorporate seasonal
fruits and vegetables from the garden in decorative centerpieces.
To create your own design, look for unique, natural “vases”: hollowed-out, hard-shelled gourds such as pumpkin, acorn or butternut squash (even zucchini makes an interesting vase). And don’t overlook less obvious choices, such as savoy cabbage or ornamental kale.
Once you’ve chosen your containers, fill them with the blooms, berries and vivid leaves of autumn, such as asters, mums, dahlias, goldenrod, bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), holly (Ilex x meserveae), winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and porcelain vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata).
Pumpkin Arrangement:
Choose a small- to medium-sized pumpkin with unblemished skin and a relatively flat bottom (if it’s not flat, cut a very thin slice off the bottom to make it stable.) Cut off the top and hollow out the pumpkin as you would a Halloween jack-o-lantern. Pour water directly into the pumpkin, which is water-tight, or place a vase or jar inside to keep the flesh clean for later use in pie or soup. Next, select flowers and berried branches that enhance the orange color of the pumpkin rind.
Savoy Cabbage Vase: 
Select a firm, frilly savoy cabbage that’s very fresh so it won’t smell “cabbagey” once indoors. Make sure it sits flat; if not, use a knife to take a thin slice from the bottom to level it. Remove blemished leaves and carefully curl back the outermost leaves as shown. Using an apple corer, cut into the cabbage in five or six places, removing the flesh as you go and making sure each hole is wide and deep enough to hold a plastic florist’s tube. The tops of the tubes must be flush with the cabbage’s surface. Fill the tubes with water and add selected cut flowers and berried branches, arranging the foliage to hide the holes. For a crisp, elegant look, I chose acid-green spider chrysanthemums, orange-berried bittersweet branches and a sprinkling of burgundy-red choke cherry leaves. Store the cabbage centerpiece in a cool spot, placing it on the table just before dinner.
You can do the same thing with brightly-colored ornamental kale and cabbage, choosing flowers that coordinate with the vibrant purples and pinks of those varieties.
Getting Creative With Squash:
The hard-shelled winter squashes offer some of the most creative
containers for flowers.
I’ve used acorn squash set on its side. Again, use a knife to cut a very thin slice off the other side to keep it flat. Carve out an opening on top big enough so you can scoop out the seeds inside. You can either place your flowers and berried branches or leaves directly in the squash, or make the opening just big enough for a votive candle holder to be inserted. Fill that with water, then add your flowers, leaves and berries; later you can roast the squash flesh for dinner.
You can also select any of the newer, beautifully-colored varieties of winter squash such as hubbard, striped forms of spaghetti squash, delicata (sweet potato squash) and butternut squash.
Adapted from a story that appeared originally in Canadian Gardening magazine