welcoming spring

Yesterday Andy & Cam gathered rocks (I think our little piece of land here must have been a rock quarry in a previous lifetime), while I vigorously pruned some of our yard. As I saw Jimmy pull around the curve I gave him a big smile and held up my pruners high above my head victoriously (this has been on my to-do list for the last three months), the wind flapping through my hair.

I think he may have been a little worried.

"Are you sure you can cut that much off?" he kept saying as I showed off all my hard work. To which I replied, "Of course, I'm sure. . . . . . pretty sure. Remember how gorgeous our magnolia tree was last spring?" (So help me, I needed a stark branch centerpiece one winter day and it was the closest tree to the house. I took alot off.)

So today I confidently stuck my armloads of magnolia branches and plum tree branches in water and in a week we will have beautiful blossoms all around the inside of the house. (And I'm pretty sure in a month we will have gorgeous blossoms all around our yard too, in spite of my limited pruning abilities.)

And just in case you have never forced blooms, you will die when you find out how easy it is. Cut branches off of any spring flowering tree (if in doubt, just cut, most trees flower in the spring.) Bring inside and stick them in container in a couple inches of water. Wait for a few days. Voila. You have springtime blossoming inside your home a couple months early.

{image from gemma comas}