Decorating with your bush & shrub trimmings
Spring has sprung in Germany and the weather this week has simply been GLORIOUS! We’ve had highs in the 60′s and 70′s…and this weekend it’s supposed to be up to 80F. Hard to imagine that spring is truly here after our -18C winter – but hopefully this lovely start to spring is just a taste of what is to come. We deserve it! 
The trees, bushes and shrubs are in full bloom here and I’ve been admiring all the forsythia bushes around the neighborhood as their buds have started to open. I happened to walk by a garden where a bunch of trimmings were laying for the dump so I grabbed a handful and made for the house. I must have looked pretty amusing walking down the street: huge dog, baby strapped to my chest and a big clump of tree trimmings all being juggled.
Using trimmings like these from forsythia, lilac or any other number of budding bushes is simple, beautiful and extremely cheap when you take cuttings from your own plants or those that your neighbors are throwing away. All you really need to do it get yourself a vase or other container to stick the shoots in and cut them to size. I have individual shoots in here as well as some of the full branches still. This is what it looked like when I first put them into the water.
Now, just a couple days later, the blossoms have all begun to open with our blast of warm air and it’s really brought the feeling of spring into our kitchen. To keep them looking nice, you just need to change the water every day or two. You can also trim a bit more off the bottom of each branch when you change the water to keep them drinking in the fresh water; therefore they’ll last even longer.
I was telling Stefan yesterday that I may try using a few of these trimmings to start our own forsythia bush. They really are the first true sign of spring here – aside from the narcissus and crocus that have started to bloom. Before long the tulips will also be opening and the neighborood will be awash with color. You see how dreamy spring is making me this year? Doesn’t hurt that when I talk doggo and Mackenzie on the walk these days, Mack giggles the whole time. Apparently the sound of birds tweeting, the smell of fresh cut grass and the trees budding is getting to her too! 
The plan for the weekend? We have to go pick up T-bone steaks from our favorite butcher in Hoechst. A bit of a drive for us now but oh so worth it. Will be loading up on salad goodies and whatever else strikes our fancy at the market Saturday morning. We are also planning to get some more work done in the garden and will buy the posts for the edge of the garden to separate the side beds from the walkways. After Easter will put down mulch in the side beds & gravel in the paths…and put new multi-layer plexiglass sheets on the greenhouse. Then our garden will officially be ready to rock.
Has spring arrived where you are? Have big plans for the weekend?
Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
Very pretty Tiffany. Do you go and look at the Easter fountains? When we lived outside Erlangen we would drive to the different villages and see how they had the Osterbrunnen decorated. Think it might be a Frankischen Schweiz custom. Certainly worth going to see though.
We never heard of them when we lived in Frankfurt, but clearly when we were in Spardorf we were right there. Next year your daughter would be a great age to see some…start a tradition.
Right! I remember taking my first daughter’s first grade class to the Nurnberg Christmas market..it was 6 degrees F. The crowds made it kind of crazy to keep track of 30 6 year olds.
I am not sure if any villages have any ceremonies to go with the fountains. I have a book about the fountains, but it in German so it is hard to scan through quickly.
I will check out these website Tiffany, thanks for the links. One thing about the eggs that were decorated was that they used goose or ostrich eggs which are so much larger than the chicken eggs. Bigger impact.
Well if you go to Bavaria and get to Nurnberg, make sure to take Mackenzie to the Toy Museum. Would imagine it is still there.
Hmm, I’ve never heard of Easter fountains but clearly we’re missing out! Found some photos on a few web pages and they are simply adorable – but it does mostly seem to be in Frankischer Schweiz. We may not make it to them this year but perhaps things will be a bit more slowed down next year for us to go get a glimpse. Wish we still had a well in front of our place – I’d have to decorate it too. So many things to do, so little time!
Exactly what I was thinking
Would be a lovely tradition while we’re still here, much like Christmas markets in December – but with less alcohol and food I guess lol
Wow – that sounds like quite an adventure! 30 6-year-olds is a handful anywhere!!
I found the website osterbrunnen.de which has tons of photos from various wells around Germany but they don’t say much of anything else. Wikipedia & the Frankischer Schweiz website & others say it started back in the 1900′s as a sort of offering to ensure the area would be blessed with plenty of water during the year – which is the essence of what keeps like going. And apparently it was especially true for the higher altitude regions of the Fraenkischer Schweiz especially that don’t get as much rain. It started spreading in the 1980′s and even a few places in Bayern do it now.
According to the tourist site, on average there is 80 meters of garland and 1800-2000 decorated eggs at each well. Setting it all up takes several days, not to mention the time that goes into hand painting the eggs and tying the garland. Nothing mentioned about celebrations though so I guess one would have to check each town.
Another thing I’d love to see is the cows coming down from the fields in Allgaeu, all decorated with the flower wreathes and bells. Plus the gray-colored cows are so cute!
Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering how someone could paint that Einstein egg on the front page of osterbrunnen.de on a chicken’s egg!
I was just telling my husband about the tradition and he’d also never heard of it. Of course he grew up in Hessen & his parents are from Bavaria so I guess that explains it.