Birch Poles at Bergdorf's

Birch Poles were used for the fall window displays at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. I like how different orientations were used to create a somewhat chaotic display to frame the mannequins.

Birch Wedding Arch

When I think of birch branches being used in a wedding arch or altar, the first thing that comes to mind are birch poles. However, customer Mindy C. used our Natural Birch Branches to construct a gorgeous wedding arch.

The birch branches provide a fantastic base on which to secure fresh flowers. Something I love about the design is how the flowers are spare towards the bottom and gradually concentrate at the top, like bubble collecting on the surface of a glass of champagne.

Thanks so much to Mindy C. for sending the pictures! The pictures were taken by The Storykeeper (http://www.storykeeper.com)

Flowering White Sparkle Birch Centerpieces

Although White Sparkle Birch Branches are most popular during the winter months, they can be used to make great displays for any season. We got this email from a customer who used them for centerpieces for her summer wedding last year:

"Hello,

I purchased the sparkly white birches for my wedding last year. They
made beautiful, inexpensive centerpieces. Photos attached.

We made two tone blossoms with tissue paper and wire. These were
twisted on, counting about 15-20 flowers for each set of branches
after they were fanned out. For the base, we filled the vase with pool
salt (super cheap) and wrapped a pink envelope & green ribbon around
each.

Thanks for making such great products available!

Kindest Regards,

Susie J."

The blossoms and the choice of colors take the centerpieces from cool and wintry, to warm and summery.  I love the clever tips Susie mentioned, such as wrapping the inexpensive glass vases with envelopes tied with a contrasting ribbon, and using pool salt as vase filler. 

In a follow-up email, Susie went into detail about why she ended up making the centerpieces she did: 

"The reception hall had high vaulted ceilings so tall centerpieces were a must; but tall centerpieces also means more $$$. Though I love flowers, I wanted something that lasted more than a week (as they would be given as gifts after) and low maintenance. Originally, crystal trees were wanted, but overall, the theme didn't fit my summer wedding or budget."

The flowers are very impressive, and she was nice enough to describe how she created them herself:

"After several trials, we ended up with tissue paper, streamers, and flowering wire.
flat tissue paper - one shade of light pink
party streamers - colors as follows: 

-dark pink

-medium pink
-medium green
-lime green

These three shades of pink combined, added texture as well as saved time in cutting. I cut small squares from the tissue paper & squares from the streamers. Stack these, lightest colors on top-with every other layer touching corners; at the bottom of each stack, add a square of each green; Fan fold the little bunch & twist the flowering wire on (about 5 inch piece down the middle); after securing the center of the tissue bunch, (should be 2.5inchs/more of wire down each side), fan out the paper & try to pull each corner in a different direction. For more green and less work, we also worked in just buds of leaves (green squares with wiring) on assorted branches for a fuller look."

Over a year later she still has one of the centerpieces in her home looking great. Thanks so much Susie for sharing!

Centerpiece of Fountain Grass and Birch Branches on WeddingBee

Over on WeddingBee is a great post - Centerpieces: Revisited and Redefined - about creating the centerpieces we demonstrated in the post  Silk Flowers + Natural Birch Branches = "Faux-Real" Flowering Branches. The results look great!

Check out the post on WeddingBee for more. 

Silk Flowers + Natural Birch Branches = "Faux-Real" Flowering Branches

Flowering Branches such as Quince or Cherry look spectacular but are perishable and are only available for a short period during the spring. Artificial branches tend to either look, well, artificial, or are very expensive.

How about combining real branches such as Natural Birch Branches, with some inexpensive silk flowers? I picked up some really cheap generic silk flowers over in the Floral District, which cost $4.50 a bundle, after checking out some more expensive options such as Cymbidium Orchids, which cost $36/stem. As you can see, these silk flowers weren't anything spectacular:

Then I got out the glue gun and scissors, grabbed some Natural Birch Branches and went to work.

And after a few minutes of gluing...  

... a pretty spectacular "faux-real" flowering branch. What makes this work so well despite using relatively cheap flowers is the fact that only a small portion of the branch is faux, while the vast majority of it is real. Now the math: One Natural Birch Branch at $.56/stem ($14.50 per bundle / 25 stems per bundle) + a few silk flowers adding up to $.25 or so + miscellaneous expenses = about $1.00. Not too bad! 

   

Here we combined some of the branches with Fountain Grass for a nice, airy display evocative of spring or summer:

Himalayan Birch Poles and Forks

Here are some pictures of the Himalayan Birch Branches, displayed in a 6" diameter, 18" tall vase. The most common birch species sold as decorative branches, Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) and Gray Birch (Betula populifolia) don't really start getting white until about 2 inches in diameter. Because of their relatively large diameter, these species aren't practical for centerpieces, and are instead typically used in long lengths for floor displays. Himalayan Birch (Betula jacquemontii), however, starts getting white at around 1/2" diameter, a completely manageable size for table-top display in a reasonably sized vase. Here are the small poles, which are about 1/2 - 1" in diameter, and 3-4 feet long, which will be available in bundles of 5:

Even at this small of a diameter, these birch branches are as white as the whitest Paper Birch Branches, and some have a bit of exfoliating bark adding to their charm. Once Himalayan Birch Branches hit about an inch in diameter they become spectacularly white and have a good deal of exfoliating bark.  The 1-2" diameter size will be available in bundles of 3:

And here's a close-up of the 1-2" size showing the gorgeous color and exfoliating bark:

In addition to the Poles, we'll also have forks, which generally are under an inch in diameter and would be fantastic for using with hanging votives or other objects:

In addition to these items, we'll also have 2-3" diameter trunks, which have profuse amounts of peeling bark, 1-2 foot sticks, Himalayan Birch Brush and likely another item or two. If you haven't been able to tell, we're extremely excited about Himalayan Birch!

Himalayan Birch Trees Have Arrived

On Thursday afternoon I drove through a wicked snowstorm to the north end of Cayuga Lake in way Upstate New York, where my family and its herd of Holsteins recently moved to from Litchfield County, CT. Right next to my parents' house is a big empty barn that is relatively new and has never seen the hooves of a cow - combine that with their proximity to the source of the birch up in Canada, and they were just begging me to put that barn to good use.

Friday morning the sun came out and a tractor trailer arrived. My father fired up his first real post-full-time-dairy-farmer toy (a brand new tractor delivered the day before) and we unloaded the trees with the help of my brother and an exceptionally cheerful driver who was more than happy to get his last delivery of 2007 off the truck. To temporarily store the trees, we stood them up, creating a dense forest in the barn. That was the easy part.

The crucial step was figuring out how to turn those 16-18 foot trees into attractive, standardized products, while keeping the waste to a minimum. We got cutting and a few trees down the way we had it figured out: 3-4' Brush in bundles of 15; 1-2', 1/2-1" Rods in bundles of 10;  3-4' Forks in bundles of 3; 3-4', 1/2-1" Poles in bundles of 5; 3-4', 1-2" Poles in bundles of 3; and 3-4', 2-3" Trunks. We'll have pictures up soon and these should be available for purchase in early January. 

My "Black Friday" Shopping: Himalayan Birch

On "Black Friday" I took a trip to Canada to shop for some birch. We'd been contacted a few weeks before by a nursery that had a surplus of Himalayan Birch (Betula jacquemontii) that had grown too large for them to dig up for their landscaping customers. There are many different species of birch with white bark, and Himalayan Birch has the whitest bark of them all.

After a few hours of driving, exchanging 20 US dollars for 17 Canadian dollars and change, and watching hordes of cars headed south, we arrived at the nursery. The birch looked amazing.  The trunks and side branches were spectacularly white down to about a half inch in diameter, whereas the White Birch we currently sell, Betula papyrifera, is rarely white below an inch-and-a-half diameter. The diameter of the Himalayan Birch tops out at around 2" in short sections, so we'll probably be selling them in 3-4 foot lengths, rather than the 6-8 foot lengths used for the heavier Betula papyrifera. We hope to get a large batch of trees in the next few weeks, and have them processed and available for purchase in early January. 

New: White Sparkle Birch Branches

We've just added White Sparkle Birch Branches, which like our Brushy Birch Branches, can be opened for an airier look. Shown is a single bundle of five branches that has been opened, displayed in a low white cube with white river stones over floral foam.

Card Trees / Wish Trees

Branches are a fantastic means for displaying escort cards, and are what you need for creating a "wish tree" where your guests hang little notes on branches.



Here's what we used to create this display:

1. 6-10 stems Brushy Birch Branches (a bundle has 20-25);
2. A square gold pot;
3. Heavy-duty floral foam;
4. River Stones; and
5. Paper clips.

And here's what you need to do:

1. Open the Brushy Birch Branches.
2. Slice of a piece of floral foam 1-2" thick to fit into the bottom of the pot. A butter knife works just fine.
3. Pour an inch or so of the stones over the floral foam.
   
4. Push the Brushy Birch Branches through the floral foam, and repeat and rearrange until you have a configuration you like.
5. Pour the remainder of the stones into the pot and around the branches.

Now you have your display. Most of what we've heard and read about Card Trees or Wish Trees involves having the guests untying or tying their cards. This means that you'll not only have to punch holes through your cards, but your guests will have to fuss with the knots, which could be a bit difficult for older members of the party, after a few glasses of champagne, and in the romantic low light.

Instead, make the connection to the card with a paper clip so your guests can effortlessly pull the cards off, or put them on. If you want the look of the ribbon or string, you can simply tie the paper clip on at the end. You'll minimize the fussing of your guests and end up with much prettier bows.

Also, if you are going to have a ton of cards, make multiple displays (you can get 2-3 of what's shown above out of one bundle of the Brushy Birch Branches), and group the cards alphabetically. This will help prevent bottlenecks.

Manzanita is also another candidate for a Card Tree or Wish Tree. Here's a picture of Escort Card Trees made from Natural Manzanita. Ours tends to be more dense, so you may have to get out your clippers to do a little pruning to make space for the cards.

Opening Birch Branches

When Birch Branches are harvested, the branches are folded in and tied into tight bundles. This allows them to be easily shipped, not only because they take up much less space, but also because the branches are oriented in one direction, which minimizes the potential for damage. We untie these bundles, trim off any broken branches and fluff them out a bit giving them some more volume. When displayed, these branches have a nice dense and vertical form.

For an airier look, you simply need to get the birch branches to go back to their pre-bundling form. This is easier than it might sound - simply grasp one of the lateral (side) branches at the base, and gently pull back to about 45 degrees, which is the approximate angle the lateral branches grew at. Repeat for all of the branches, and you have what looks like a birch branch fresh off the tree.

Birch Branches can be opened whether they are still somewhat fresh and pliable, or crispy dry. The natural form of birch branches is opened and airy, and the branches are happy to move back into their original positions.



In their opened form, the branches fill a great deal of space, and you'll need far fewer per vase. The display in the foreground of the top picture has 6-10 opened branches in it, and the vase in the background has the remainder of the 25 stem bundle.

While the example shown here is done with Yellow Birch Brush, you can easily do the same with White Sparkle Birch Branches or Goldleaf Birch Branches:

Iced Birch Branches can also be opened, but it is not for the faint of heart - the side branches get stuck together, and you have to pull them apart before you can open them, which will inevitably result in some of them being broken.

So, you've opened all the branches in a bundle, have filled 2 or 3 vases, but want that dense vertical form again (or need to transport them). Before you order another bundle, simply run your hand from the bottom of the branch up, and the branches will fold back in.