Spring has breathed such a fresh air into all that was quickly becoming stale. Just as I couldn’t handle wearing a jacket (we don’t need “coats” around these parts!) any longer, the weather has climbed into the 70s and the birds are singing from the branches of my newly-budding pear tree.
I don’t put out much seasonal decor in the winter, as I find winter drab and depressing. Sorry, but I just do. I know a lot of you rock the snowflakes and all of the goodness that goes with it, but I just spend the winter months wishing I could play outside with my kiddos and feel the warmth of the radiant sun on my face. Spring is the time when I finally reinvigorate our home with some reminders of the season.
On Thursday, I bought my first stem of spring: a beautiful blue and white hydrangea. Paired with some eucalyptus I also picked up and some greenery clippings from my front yard, it brought such a perfect reminder of Spring to my living room.
I put the stems in a silver plate bucket I picked up a few years ago at an antique market. I haven’t used the urn as a vase before, but I really love it used in that capacity.
The first nest of the season has also made its appearance. Putting out my nests is really one of my favorite parts about decorating. They just remind me of the anticipation of my own little nestlings, whom I just love more than life itself.
Spring is here (or almost here), my friends. What is your favorite part about getting your home ready for spring?
P.S. Within 24 hours, my beautiful Hydrangea was a goner. It was the first Hydrangea stem I had ever purchased. Once cut, do they have a ridiculously short lifespan? Did my silver plate urn hurt it somehow? Was it too close to the window? The greenery still looks brilliant, so I’m quite confused. If you have any guidance for me on Hydrangeas, please let me know!
P.P.S. A lovely reader, Janet, supplied this link on overcoming Hydrangea wilt. Have you tried these techniques? I’m definitely going to next time!
I have an urn exactly like that—with more tarnish—on my mantle and it’s full of silk hydrangeas. I have several hydrangea bushes on the side of my house and the blooms last for quite a long time; they’re my favorite flower to bring in the house! The one you bought may have been old already, but I think it more likely that it was the silver. Maybe if you put a little flowerpot inside the urn next time to hold the water?
Now why didn’t I think of that – a little pot or vase inside of it. Smart!
I was also thinking it was the urn. We have two hydrangea bushes, and the blooms seem to last for weeks when I put them in a glass vase. Sara had a good idea-maybe buy a dollar store small glass vase that could fit inside?
Morning Lindsey,
It is not the silver vase…it’s a naturally occuring substance that clogs the stems pores when cut. It is a very commom problem made worse by the fact that these were purchased blooms that most likely were cut days ago.
Try these two methods next time you have cut Hydrangeas.
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/cut_dont_wilt.html
Good luck,
Janet xox
Ooooh! I wish I would have read that before I bought my stem! All the more reason to get another one. Thank you!!!
PS – No biggie on the ‘e.’ I’m so used to my name being misspelled that I pretty much answer to anything that starts with an ‘L’!
Dear Lindsay…please ignore the ‘E’ in your name on my first post ;->
Janet xox
PS…I need more coffee
How lovely! I have a similar urn I picked up
at goodwill a few months ago. I’m using it as a container to grow rosemary. Yours looks so pretty with the hydrangea stem! So sorry it didn’t last!
I love it when I get to open my house for the first time and get all the staleness out! I especially love the first night of being able to sleep with the windows open. That is when I know spring has arrived.
I bought a bouquet at a grocery store one time with a hydrangea bloom and it lasted for over a week but required quiet a bit of water. Yours looked gorgeous in the silver urn! 🙂
I have a total black thumb, so I’m NO help when it comes to keeping flowers alive. I can, however, tell you 500 ways to kill them. 🙂 I love greenery though…. That’s my favorite part of spring. ALL THE GREEN. I love it and love bringing it into the house. I also love pulling out the sweet Easter bunnies….I live down on the coast in Alabama, so we’re blessed to have spring weather for a lot of the year. 🙂
You sound like me – I know all the ways to kill them, too! LOL
Hi Lindsay,
Love your blog! The urn makes such a gorgeous vase! And about the hydrangeas…a good friend of mine who is a florist always says that you should soak them upside down (flower head dunked in the water) for 20-30 minutes before placing them in a vase. When they start to wilt again, just soak and place back in the vase. It seems that they “drink” from the flower and not from their stems. It has always worked for me. Hope this helps! 🙂
What a fun tip! I’ll try that next time. I feel bad that I got rid of my stem when I could have just dunked her!
I am so ready for spring to be here for good! We played outside in swimsuits yesterday and were back in jackets today.
I have never had any luck with hydrangeas. I have just admire them on blogs and in magazines 🙂
Glad to know I’m not alone. 🙂
those are lovely!
I am also bad with keeping plants alive, so I can’t help there!
but I love spring! I love spring cleaning, I love re-decorating each spring.
we are gonna get a covered patio soon hopefully so we can enjoy more time outside this spring/summer without having to worry so much about the kids getting too much sun exposure. 🙂
Nice! We need to have our patio covered, too. I saw a new product at a home show this weekend called Solara – it looks like a pergola but can be adjusted to be all the way open, tilted, or totally closed. http://www.smart-patio-covers.com/ I don’t know how much it costs, but I’m going to look into it – I think it’s really neat!
Yep happens to me all the time too. I will try those tricks and hope they work! Hey, what’s going on with Mommy Uniform? Saw the first few entries and now there haven’t been any. I love the Stella and Dot jewelry and I love the four outfits you put together. Where are those jeans from? And the white tee? Thanks.
I know, right! Girl, I need to get back going on that other blog. I swear, I can only focus on one thing at a time when it comes to blogging. This one gets neglected for that one, that one gets neglected for this one.
Those jeans are Citizens of Humanity Hudson mid-rise flares. That tee is from a shop I found online in the UK (House of Fraser), but I will also recommend a great, white 3/4 length tee that’s currently at the Ann Taylor outlet if you have one near you. It’s the perfect weight and a great cut!
Love the nests! I’m up in Ohio and it’s been barely hitting 40 degrees, but I have two “nests” ready to go, but was trying to wait til mid March…kind of hard to get in the spring mood when there is still snow everywhere!!
juliesfreshperspectives.blogspot.com
I love hydrangeas. They are so beautiful. I love to open the windows and let the fresh spring air in. It is still quite cool here in the Northeast but I look forward to the days of 70.
Ruth