Forcing Branches
A beautiful vase of flowers is a perfect remedy for chasing away the late winter blues, when all we really want is to see is the light of spring at the end of winter’s tunnel! Bring a bit of spring indoors by gathering branches of flowering trees and shrubs, and then forcing them to bloom inside the house.
The warming weather trend offers us the perfect opportunity to do this! As temperatures rise above freezing, select and cut branches that have some nice, fat buds. Cut a few more branches than you think you’ll need, just incase some of them don’t absorb as much water as they will need to open up. Using a very sharp pruning shear or knife, carefully split the cut end. Place the branches in a container of warm water and re-cut another inch from the base of the stem. This will help to prevent air from entering the stem through the cut end, which can block the intake of water. Remove any buds or twigs that will be under the water.
Place the containers in a cool room, changing the water every two or three days. Now, be patient! It may take a couple of weeks for the buds to open. Generally, the closer the plants are to their natural bloom time, the faster they will force open. When the buds begin to show some color, move the containers into a spot where you can enjoy the show, but keep them out of direct sunlight.
Forsythia and pussy willow are really easy options for late winter forcing, but there are many other choices! The blossoms of dogwood and witch hazel will brighten any room! If you are attracted to more subtle colors, try forcing filbert for its lovely soft green catkins or fothergilla for fragrant, white bottle-brush shaped blossoms. You could also try flowering quince and ornamental cherry. And for a big pop of pink, sacrifice a couple branches of your saucer magnolia or redbud.
Conveniently, late winter is the best time to prune many deciduous trees and shrubs. So when Mother Nature offers us a day or two of warmer weather, we jump at the chance to knock a few chores off of our March & April garden-to-do lists! You might find that some rooting takes place during the forcing process, especially on dogwood and willow branches. If you’d like to plant the branches, wait for the roots to grow at least 1/2 of an inch or so. Then remove them from the vase and trim the branch back so that 2 or 3 buds remain. Pot the stems up individually in containers filled with seed starting mix, making sure that you keep the soil moist until permanent roots are formed. When the weather warms up, you can plant your new baby plants in a protected spot!