Andy Krieger runs the 60+ year family business in Jefferson, Iowa. While Andy talks about how the business has been around for many years, he talks about how he kind of rebranded the family business in 2019 and started Greene Goods Market. Andy runs Greene Goods Market & Greenhouses and Krieger’s Flower Shop. Between the three, Andy offers a variety of different things from centerpieces, porch pots, bouquets, balloons, produce, and more! Learn more about the history behind Greene Goods and where everything started in the video below.

Greene Goods Insight on Holiday Centerpiece

Amy talks to us about the things she thinks about when creating a holiday centerpiece. The first thing she mentions is ensuring that your oasis has plenty of water for the greenery. Having plenty of water will help the greenery to stay fresher for a longer period of time.

When starting your centerpiece, it is important to have longer pieces of greenery to stick in at the bottom. You will start on your four sides then from there you will just fill in and build your way up. As you build up the centerpiece, you will use shorter pieces of greenery. When you are cutting the greenery, Amy tells us to make sure that we are cutting the stem at a 45-degree angle. Cutting at a 45-degree angle allows it to soak up more water.

Using different types of greenery not only helps to make the centerpiece look fuller but it just as more texture to the piece as well. Once you have all the greenery stuck into the oasis how you like it, you can begin to add some fun elements such as pine cones, berries, a candle, bows, and more. You can have fun with this step and go a few different directions to make it yours. We like how Andy says, “taking the green and giving it the bling.” The greenery is beautiful by itself but just adding those different elements really makes it beautiful and pop.

Insight on Greenery

There is a variety of different greenery that can be used to make a holiday centerpiece. Amy tells us that when choosing greenery, it kind of depends on what you want and how long you want it to last. Amy also tells us that most times it just depends on what you have available. At Krieger’s, they have land in Minnesota so they are able to bring in a variety of different greenery that can be used for different items.

Andy talks to us about the different greenery that they have available at Krieger’s – eastern white cedar, white pine, balsam, and red pine to name a few.

While you can go out and clip off pieces from your pine trees outside, it is important to use fresh greenery. If you don’t use fresh then in most cases, it won’t last but a few days, if that. At Krieger’s they always have fresh greenery which will help your wreaths, centerpieces, porch pots, whatever it may be, last a few weeks.

Tip from Legacy Events