Spring is the traditional time to sell your home. To make your home stand out among all the others, Elaine Martin of Vintage Gardener, who is also a Home Stager with Dan Cooper’s Royal LePage Real Estate team, likes forcing branches to bloom indoors for an inspiring and unique look.
“Forcing branches to bloom is also a fun project to do with kids because it can be quite magical,” Martin said from her floral studio in Toronto’s historic Distillery District.
It starts with a thaw -- the typical ones that occur in January and February. “That’s the day I grab my secateurs and cut the branches that bloom in April or May and make them bloom inside the house.
Pick a sunny day with the temperature going up about 10 degrees. “It doesn’t have to be a mild day – it could very cold,” Martin said. “We’re trying to trick the plant into thinking that spring is coming.”
The branch once cut looks dead, but when placed in water the buds start to swell and look green, and then come out in full bloom soon after.
Martin uses a ratchet pruner that clamps onto the branch stem, and with a powerful pump action it cuts through a thick branch easily.
“Once I bring it inside, I have to cut it again and a scab forms on the bottom,” Martin said. “My theory is that it’s Mother Nature’s protection to lock in any moisture and nourishment.”
The bottom of the stem now needs to be softened to get as much water going to the buds as quickly as possible. There are two methods Martin uses. One is the traditional method of bashing the stems with a hammer, which softens the entire base, but is not very attractive if you’re putting the stem in vase.
The other method is one Martin took from her years in Girl Guides. “We would cut sticks to make a fire – we called them fuzz sticks. By cutting up the stem in that way we still can get water to the buds and it looks good in a glass vase.”
For more information visit
www.vintagegardener.com.
