Bring Some Spring Color Into Your Home!

February or March is a great time to bring some branches of spring flowering trees and shrubs indoors to force into bloom.

Late winter before growth begins is one of the best times to prune/thin many of the trees and shrubs in your landscape. Happily, this is also the best time to bring some branches of your spring flowering trees and shrubs indoors to force into bloom! Although it can take anywhere from 1-6 weeks to initiate flowering (depending on the species), the cheerful spring blooms that pop open will be well worth the wait.

Timing:

The best time to cut branches for forcing indoors is when the buds begin to swell in spring. The warmer the zone, the earlier your will be able to start harvesting branches.

Note: The closer to their normal blooming time that you harvest the branches, the faster they will come into bloom in the house.

How to Harvest:

Cut branches that are 2-3 feet long and that are heavily laden with flower buds.

• Branches toward the top of the plant tend to have more flower buds than those lower down. 
• Flowering buds can usually be distinguished from vegetative buds because they tend to be larger and fatter. 
• When cutting the branches, be sure to prune to a bud or side shoot and make your cut about a 1/4" above the bud.

Two Methods for forcing

Cold Method:

1. Place the cut ends into a bucket of snow or icy cold water and keep them in a cool, dark place for 2 days.
2. After 2 days, re-cut the ends of the branches and arrange them in tall vases filled with cool water.
3. Set the vases in the sun next to a window and remember to keep the water levels up.

Warm Method:

1. Bring the cut branches inside and place them in tall containers filled with warm water (90-110ºF).
2. Place a tent of plastic over the branches and the containers and set them in a dimly lit, warm room for 24 hours. The warmth and humidity will encourage the scales covering the flower buds to expand and activate dormant buds.
3. Re-cut the ends of the branches at an angle and arrange them in vases filled with fresh water.
4. Remember to check the water levels often and top them off if needed.

Some of the Viette's favorite spring blooming trees and shrubs for forcing indoors are:

• Flowering Quince, Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles) - Quince branches can be cut for forcing from February to mid-March. They need between 2-5 weeks of forcing and blooms will last 4-7 days.
• Flowering Pear (Pyrus calleryana) - Cut branches for forcing in late January to mid-March and force for 2-5 weeks. Flowering branches will last 7-14 days.
• Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata) - These beautiful cherries can be forced into bloom when cut in late January through mid-March. They need 2-4 weeks of forcing and once blooming will last for 7-14 days.   
• Flowering Plum (Prunus triloba) - Cut branches in late January through February and force for 3-4 weeks. Blooms last about 10 days.
  
• Flowering Peach (Prunus persica) - Cut branches in early February and force for 4-5 weeks. Blooms usually last about 7 days.  
• Dogwood (Cornus florida) - Dogwood branches are best cut in mid-March and forced for 2-4 weeks. The blooms will last from 7-10 days indoors.   
• Crabapple and Apple (Malus spp.) - Cut branches of crabapples and apples in mid-March and force for 2-3 weeks. Blooms will last for about 7 days.  
• Forsythia can be cut from February to mid-March. They will bloom in 1-3 weeks and the flowers will usually last for about 7 days.  
• Pussy Willow (Salix spp.) - Begin cutting in February. Remove the bud scales and force for 1-2 weeks. Once the buds become fuzzy, take the branches out of the water and allow them to dry. The catkins will last for a long time if treated this way. 
  
• Lilac (Syringa) should be harvested in early March. They take 4-6 weeks of forcing and the flowers  will last from 3-7 days indoors.