Encouraging Spring





Many dear friends in the Midwest and East Coast of the States, and in Europe, are lamenting their long and snowy winter, dreaming of spring’s warmth and color amid days rendered dull by clouds and fog, and longing for the sight of trees billowing with clouds of pink and white.

Did you know you can awaken a bit of spring to brighten up indoor days? Much as you can nudge paperwhites and crocus and hyacinth, you can force, or as I prefer to say, encourage, shrubs and trees to blossom inside.
Forsythia, crabapple, cherry, pear, pussy willow, quince and dogwood, for example, are all suitable choices.
Simply cut long branches (that won’t affect the look of the plant later) containing many buds along the stem. Clip an “x” into the tip of the branch to open it and place in fresh, warm water. You might have to be patient! But, possibly before nature herself, in a few weeks you should have lovely, fragrant and gracefully arching wands of color.
Then gather up some vintage bottles in different shapes and sizes and hue and you can create a little orchard. This is what I put together for our dining room yesterday:
The bottles are a mixture of antiques given to me by my Mom, plus thrift store finds (my price limit: $1.00).
To create variation in height, as the bottles are mostly fairly small, I used some crystal candlesticks as stands, inverting one for interest.
Et voilá!
Even if spring is late in making her true entrance, be assured she will come, and that she will be all the more joyfully welcomed for the extended prologue of late winter.
Knowing such things with certainty gives stability to our hectic lives. And, though we are each the architects of our own destiny, or as my dear friend Amy says “You are the writer of your own happy ending…”, it’s good to know we are part of something grander and more enduring, isn’t it?
• • • •

(I’m quite busy on a biggish project that may prove to be a breakthrough for our little company(!), but I will stay in touch as much as poss. Also working on a fun project this weekend, that, if all goes well, I’ll share on Sunday night to bring a little song to the start of your week! I hope your weekend bestows something sparkly and bright!)
xoxo
– g