#forcing branches

It can get addictive--bringing dormant branches into the house so they can flower early is one way to get the jump on spring. Click the link to find out how!

Forcing branches of flowering shrubs and trees is a skill I try to get better at every year–it’s another way to hurry spring up. Compared to last year, this winter has been more consistently snowy and cold. It hasn’t been severely cold, but we haven’t had the intermittent thaws that we had last year. But for the last week, the temperatures have moderated. Almost every day has managed to get…

Forcing Forsythia and Other Flowering Branches

This Forcing Forsythia and Other Flowering Branches post is a guest blogger submission.

Having fresh flowers in the house is always such a nice touch. With spring around the corner why not cut a few branches from some of your spring blooming shrubs to bring indoors. It only takes a couple to make a beautiful presentation.

Where I live many people…

Blooming Branches

Every year while in the grips of winter, I think . . . “this is the year I’m going to force some flowering branches to bloom indoors. How nice would that be? It can’t be that hard.” And then I never do it.

This year’s extra winter blasts convinced me to finally give it a try.

I consulted my scrapbook (ha!) from years past . . .

. . . and even though we were already well into February, I clipped…