Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Spring soon arrives, and many are anxious for green with a splash of color. My go-to is harvesting branches of forsythia, but you can also bring other spring-flowering woody plants indoors to encourage early spring blooms.
Cutting at a steep angle helps water uptake.
How to Encourage Early Spring Blooms Indoors
Encouraging forsythia to bloom indoors (some call it forcing forsythia, but encouraging sounds gentler) will brighten your house during the last weeks of winter. Plus you can make more plants.
On a day above freezing, cut branches 1 to 2 feet long as if you were pruning; choosing young branches and cutting at a steep angle helps water uptake. Be sure to pick those with plentiful flower buds, typically fatter than leaf buds.
I added Holly to my Indoor Spring Bloom Display. “Holly bears fruit and stays green in winter. Thus, it became a symbol of immortality,”
Choose a large vase that won’t tip over and add 4-6 inches of water—place in a bright room above 60 degrees away from direct sun or heat. The next day, recut the stem ends and change the water every few days. Once your blooms bloom, mist them so they last longer.
When forsythia flowers fade, leaves will emerge, and the stems will likely sprout roots. So why not nurture them to add more to your yard? Continue to change the water every few days. Then, after the risk of frost, plant your forsythia babies right into the ground. Loosen up the soil about eight inches and group three to five forsythia cuttings six inches apart. And soon, you’ll have a lovely living wall, preferably planted in a distance so you can allow each plant to grow naturally, draping like a fountain.
The process is similar for other spring-flowering woody plants.
An Excerpt from Vicki Johnson’s Persuading Early Flowers
A dear friend, garden writer, and photographer, Vicki Johnson, shared one of her stories about Persuading Early Flowers that encompasses many more treasures. I adore the color of her words and how she sets the scene for the lovelies:
Photo by: Vicki Johnson
Chaenomeles speciosa/Common flowering quince
The garden is still blanketed with snow and ice, and frost feathers glisten on windowpanes while blustery winds rattle at the door. It is March, the month of transition from frozen, unyielding winter to fitful Spring. But we can feel it coming. The sky is brighter behind the curtains when the alarm sounds in the morning, and the sun still hangs above the horizon as we drive home from work. There are days when it is warm enough to leave my jacket on its peg inside the house, even though the snow and ice are still piled up against north-facing walls. Spring – It really is coming. The snow really will melt away. But until then, it is possible to trick Mother Nature and have flowers from your garden gracing your home by cutting branches and twigs from spring-flowering shrubs and trees and “persuade” them to flower weeks before their natural bloom cycle.
There could be dogwood blossoms glistening on a mantelpiece or an arch of creamy magnolias draped across a dining room sideboard a month before they appear outside. Flower and leaf buds on spring flowering shrubs and trees are formed in the fall before the plants enter their winter dormancy. Our favorite lilacs, dogwoods, and rhododendrons require a winter chill (below 40 degrees F) before they flower. After that, small branches can be harvested and brought inside, where they can be conditioned and brought into bloom.
I adore the display even before the Forsythia flowers.
Tips for Success
Vicki shared tips for success, such as choosing younger branches with many buds and cutting them at least twelve inches long. When taking a large limb, cut a couple of inches above the “collar” where the branch joins the trunk, leaving this 2-3 inch “knob” on the tree to allow the wound to heal quickly before insects or diseases set in. Put the cut stems in a bucket of water right away, and if the branches were frozen when cut, soak them overnight in tepid water.
Place the bucket of branches away from direct sunlight where temperatures hover between 60 and 65 degrees, such as a garage or enclosed porch. I keep my house at about 65; it’s less drying for your skin and indoor plants. So, my cuttings before flowering are part of the display, especially when adding evergreens such as holly. Higher temperatures can cause the buds to dry or open too quickly, producing small or discolored flowers. As the buds prepare to open, the branches will take up a lot of water, so replenish or change the water frequently. When the buds show color, enjoy them in arrangements.
Spring-flowering Trees and Shrubs, you can Bloom Indoors
Forsythia, quince, and pussy willow are three of the easiest to encourage into flower. Vicki shared a list (below), including other trees and shrubs recommended for forcing and the weeks required in cool storage to bring them to flower.
There are so many beautiful spring-flowering woody plants you can bring indoors to enjoy, to give you that taste of Spring early. And rather than forcing them to flower, we’ll call it persuading, as Vicki does, or encouraging, as I like to call it. It’s gentler, it’s kinder, and kindness is more beautiful.
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone@gmail.com and your favorite Podcast App.
Enjoy more of the story in the Garden Dilemmas Podcast (12 soothing minutes):
A reflection of encouragement in our Garden of Life:
As we think about what’s happening in the world, many things are upsetting, making us feel helpless and out of control, and we don’t understand much of it. We hear versions of the story that differ from other versions, depending on what or who we’re listening to. Let us seek the source of information rather than a newscaster, podcaster, or anyone else reiterating it because some share their point of view rather than the facts.
Living the truth is part of what we’re here to do. And when we harbor fear or anger, we perpetuate more of that amongst each other, which does not help—only kindness and love help. When you think about it, the only thing we have to do in this life is to love. We’re not here to judge; we’re here to love and by loving others and loving ourselves, it will grow into something magnificent and peaceful, and that is what we all wish for. Isn’t it?
So, let us encourage others to flourish and bloom rather than forcing or judging. It’s gentler, kinder, and more beautiful.
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life with me.
Related Posts and Podcasts you’ll enjoy:
Forsythia Hedge at Hospice- Blog Post
Podcast Ep 53. Shaping Up With Forsythia
Vicki Johnson’s Recommended Plants for Indoor Spring Blooms:
Forsythia spp. 1-3 weeks in cool storage
Lilac Syringa 1-2 weeks
Pussy Willow Salix discolor, and others 1-2 weeks
Cornelian cherry Cornus mas two weeks in cool storage
Flowering Dogwood Cornus spp. 2-3 weeks in cool storage
Redbud, Cercis canadensis 2-3 weeks
Honeysuckle Lonicera 2-3 weeks
Malus spp. (crab apples) 2-4 weeks in cool storage
Almond, Plum, Peach, Cherry Prunus spp. 2-4 weeks
Magnolia spp. 3-5 weeks in cool storage
Japanese quince, Chaenomeles spp. 4 weeks in cool storage
Spiraea spp. 4 weeks
Mock Orange Philadelphus spp. 4-5 weeks in cool storage
Flowering pear Pyrus sp. 4-5 weeks
Rhododendrons, including Azaleas spp. 4-6 weeks in cool storage
