As I looked out the kitchen window yesterday morning, I saw it: Spring!!! The teeniest little lime green buds on the trees had appeared over the weekend!!! (I think it was that 80 degree weather!!) And they're even bigger today. So, it got me thinking of reaccessorizing & one of the easiest & cheapest (I apologize to those that hate that word but i love it ;) ways to do this is to bring in your yard!! (Or nice, unsuspecting parkland/ public property.... hahaha ok I probably shouldn't have said that! but as long as you cut carefully!)
Even right now before the buds have really even started, look how beautiful the branches in the image below (from House Beautiful) look!
To keep branches alive, cut the stem with sharp pruning shears and put them in warm water containing fresh floral food. Floral food helps keep nourished the branches and also keeps bacteria from growing. (check out http://www.stemsflowers.com/aboutflowers.asp for awesome details on different types of plants.) I'm saying to put floral food in the vase because I just learned this great tidbit of info from the site above, but I've always done it without floral food and had luck! (Also, sometimes they wilt for a bit & come back!! odd.)
Below, I love what I think is a maple branch (correct me if I'm wrong!) and how easy it is to do. It's so striking and probably took all of 5 minutes:
Below is (not a branch!) but a snippet of (evergreen) clematis vine from my old house and it was super-easy to do & they lived for over a month!! (I put them everywhere!!)
Here's some flowering quince from Jenna Lyon's apt featured in Domino:
And some more: 
Forsythia is one of my absolute favorite things to bring in!!! You can really force the buds with the warm water & they look so gorgeous when they branches are huge!! (My aunt in NJ has a home office that's floor-to-ceiling windows on 3 sides and it's surrounded by forsythia bushes- can you imagine that in the spring?!!! I'll have to get pics from her!!)
Forsythia is one of my absolute favorite things to bring in!!! You can really force the buds with the warm water & they look so gorgeous when they branches are huge!! (My aunt in NJ has a home office that's floor-to-ceiling windows on 3 sides and it's surrounded by forsythia bushes- can you imagine that in the spring?!!! I'll have to get pics from her!!)
Below on the mantle, I used rhododendron branches to fill up the antique pitcher & since then I really hope to have a rhododendron bush one day!!!
And finally, I couldn't resist this beauty from House Beautiful, although I doubt many of us will be bringing in olive branches from our yards this year ;)
Good luck with your pruning & I can't wait to hear what you do with your branches!!!
And finally, I couldn't resist this beauty from House Beautiful, although I doubt many of us will be bringing in olive branches from our yards this year ;)
Good luck with your pruning & I can't wait to hear what you do with your branches!!!
xoxo,
lauren
As a decorator & a textile designer, this is my place to muse... perfection doesn't interest me; Reality and charm do. Fresh floppy flowers from the garden over long-stemmed roses any day, I love it when things are slightly off and tell a story. 
21 comments:
Putting fresh branches in a vase is one of my favourite things to do. We don't have blossoms quite yet on our trees, but I can hardly wait.
I have a cherry tree that is starting to bud. I read the other day that now is the time to prune - I just have to find those pruning shears!Thanks for the inspiration!
I just bought Jeffrey Billuber's book "Defining Luxury" and he used huge fall branches in a vase, in a couple of his rooms. I loved it. A great styling tool. It's a great book.
I LOVE your blog. The designs are so simply chic.
On another note, I love branches too. I'm about to pick some up for our apartment :)
love it! we have a huge forsythia bush that is unfortunately behind our wood fence. which means I just need to bring them inside! I cut some last week after our little cold/snow snap and they've come back to life inside and look beautiful!
I loved all the inspiration. Looks like I'll be out in my backyard with the pruners! Thanks!
I'm so happy that we are finally seeing signs of Spring. We had a beautiful weekend in NY and all the snow melted, which was great. So of course me and Jon ran out to Home Depot to get planting supplies ready. I so do not have a green thumb so I'm not sure how things are going to go, but I'm pretty sure I can't kill a branch so I love this idea!
Now I'm off to search for some. I should bring some pruning shears with me on my next dog walk and just borrow some from the neighbors. :)
I adore this post! I just got some branches, but have yet to decide where to put them. You should check out my post where I show these fabulous lights I bought that are actually flowers. They look very similar to those yellow flowers. :)
I've had flowering quince in my house for a month now. I have 4 bushes outside and when I realized that I could bring them in (I forget in the summer) I got a little cranky that I had 'trimmed' them all so carefully in the fall. I found a few that I had missed (thankfully) so I've been enjoying them, but I'll have to remember not to prune the bushes behind my house quite so carefully this year! Love the maple branch idea, I'll be doing that this year!
I actually walked by a flower shop today considering to get some branches. Nixed it since Indie has totally given me the stomack flu and I almost fainted on the way back from work, I'm feeling horrible today :( Even Mr B is sick.
Branches are on the top of my list though, will definitly get some when I'm feeling better.
Lovely photos. And I fell in love with the vine in your "old house." I've been know to paint my branches white. In fact, I still have a few here in our store, where we placed them in a blue and white vase and hung white porcelain acorns. Pretty. -susan
I love the look of fresh greenery too. Loved this post.
I love the green branches, so fresh and free! I had a tablescape with prunings from the yard, it lasted about two weeks.
Lauren these are lovely photos! Very inspiring!! You know... because we've been renovating for so long I've gotten out of the habit of bringing clippings or flower bouquets home... I tell myself I have no where to put them. I have to change that thinking - some cherry blossoms in a vase will be lovely in a few weeks!!
Thanks for checking out my old condo's kitchen and for your super comment :-) You'll have to come back when I share my current kitchen's remodel - it was even more involved!!
Victoria from EdinDesigns @ DesignTies
Love love love these branches and these interiors!
Branches are an awesome way to keep the cost of fresh flowers down.... I have orange trees and olive trees so I ususally have them around all the time... even when the oranges aren't ripe and are still green I just pretend they are lime tree branches :)
The other good thing is that branches can make a taller arrangement, which is one of the things I like best about them.
Love the idea, and great photos! I am feeling inspired.
But (and please don't take this the wrong way bc it is my first comment on your blog)--I have both olive and fig trees, and that last photo is of very tiny figs. You can tell by the leaves -- olive leaves are small and spiky.
Olive branches I'll definitely use in my house bc it is way too much of a chore to cure them to eat them. Figs are one of my favorite fruits, so I'd rather eat them than look at them. They do look pretty though.
S- haha please don't worry!!!! (I always invite corrections!!!:) You are so lucky to have both olives & figs too!!!! Thank you!!
xoxo,
lauren
I think I like branches & greens even more than flowers – the tall stalks are so dramatic.
–Lana
I totally love the look of flowering branches in a vase, so beautiful. I've got a number of pictures saved on file with flowering branches. But as we are going in to autumn here in Australia, I won't be having any in my own home for another six months! I have heard you can also prolong the life of the flowers if you lightly spray them with hairspray - the flowers don't drop so soon.
Enjoy spring!
Yeah for Spring, finally!
I love all these branches, they look so pretty. I'm not engaged yet, so I'm not planning a wedding exactly- but I have thought ALOT about it and I would love to include flowering branches like all of these. They add so much height and make everything around them beautiful. I'm picturing flowering branches with lots of candlelight bouncing off the walls, love it!
I am crazy about the branch look. They just add so much grace and gentility to a room! And also add a lovely vertical element so often neglected!
great collection of pics...
xo T.
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