Gently Coaxing Spring Blossoms

Several weeks ago I attended a baby shower. The centerpieces were simply beautiful. They were birds nests with quince blossoms and orchids and a tiny bird nest with eggs. I was thrilled when the "Mom to Be" gave me one of the centerpieces. Once I had it at home I realized that I could refresh the blossoms with some flowering quince from my garden. The only problem is that my flowering quince were dormant. They were covered in snow.

Beautiful, a nest in a nest. Simple and elegant.

Years ago Martha had a magazine piece on how to "force" spring blooms. I remember chatting with a fellow at the florist about this and he felt "force" was too harsh. He called it "coaxing," and I love the term, don't you? Somehow it is less controlling, more gentle. So right after the shower, I began to gently coax my blooms in my pantry.

One group of quince slowly coming to life in my pantry. It takes time, you have to be patient for the blossoms to wake up and come to life.

The other group coming into bud at the verge of bloom. If you notice in my pantry is a very old large iron sink. It was in the house when we bought it and it must be from the 1920's or so. It was a mess but I did not have the heart to throw it away, so we had it refinished and re glazed. It only cost a couple of hundred dollars versus well over a thousand for a new one. The fellows who installed it tell me it weighs hundreds of pounds. I love this sink.

Soon, the blooms will be ready to go into the arrangement. If you like, I can share how the above arrangement was made, it is really quite simple.

We went to our beach cottage today to make sure there was no storm damage and look at the surprise in my small garden. Over the weekend we had a Nor'easter which was brutal. But what a nice surprise to find these after the storm. They were gently coaxed into bloom by mother nature.

Have a wonderful week, hope it is gentle and not forced.