Branching out

I am happy to report that Saturday’s photo shoot for the book went off without a hitch. Yay team! I will go further with that statement and declare it a huge success!  Last summer, here at Connecticut Country House, we kicked off the photography for our book by capturing the best of each season – inside and out. So I guess you can say that the end is in sight as we celebrate the goings on of spring.

I specifically timed this shoot so we could capitalize on the huge assortment of beautiful flowering Easter plants that I thought would be in abundance this past weekend – not!  After running from one nursery to the next – all I came across were pots and flats of tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, and some pansies – all in a dormant state.  Unfortunately for me – no bloomage.

After my third stop, I was lucky enough to score one full flat of blooming purply-blue pansies (I had to love them – no choice), and six single headed mini white hydrangeas.  I can’t even tell you how excited (and exhausted) I was to find these. Not much to work with – but at least it was the right vibe with what I already had set up at the house.  And what I viewed at the time as a “better than nothing” purchase of 2 really big bunches of pussy willow branches (literally as I was walking out the door) ended up being the find of the day and gave me the most bang for my buck!

So I say to you, this spring consider the pussy willow.  Yeah, standing rigidly upright in their single bucket at the market, they’re in such stark contrast to the multiple smaller buckets stuffed full of colorful cut tulips. But just wait till you get them home.  They end up holding their own, and actually become the starring role when simply placed or arranged in any kind of a large container.

I ended up using my over scaled antique French grape harvest basket.  To keep the branches securely in place, I outfitted the interior base with a layer of dry foam bricks, and one by one, pushed each branch into the foam.  When all the branches were in place – I stood back and tweaked a little here and there.  Where the branches and the foam met – I filled in the gaps with scraps of sheet moss.

When I stood back, it was most definitely a ‘wow’ statement!  And one that will last for weeks.

Happy Monday!

Love, Nora