Now that the holiday festivities are behind us, the house seems a little colorless and dreary.  If you are looking for a way to bring some life to your home but don’t want to wait for spring bulbs, then here is a simple solution:  forcing branches into blossom!   These simple bouquets are elegant and easy, giving us hope of the spring ahead.  If you don’t have a couple of these in your garden, you really should find a place for them.

What does ‘forcing’ mean?  Basically it means to speed up the blooming of woody trees and perennials.  Many of these set their buds months earlier, but have a long period of dormancy during the winter.  By cutting and bringing these bare branches into a warm home environment, we can bring them out of their dormancy and into bloom sooner than they would in the outdoors.

As for how to force branches:  it is super easy.  Simply prune branches with  buds and place indoors in a vase with water and floral preservative.  Give a clean cut at an angle, and keep the water clean,  as you would for any flower arrangement.   Then relax and enjoy watching their buds unfurl!  Often, these blooming branches will retain their blossoms for a week or more.  And by staggering your cuttings, you can have blooms for several weeks.

Best choices for forcing:

• Forsythia
• Cornelian cherry
• Filberts
• Fothergilla
• Witch hazel
• Cherries
• Beeches
• Birches
• Eastern Redbud
• Lilacs
• Magnolias
• PJM rhododendron
• Quince
• Serviceberry
• Willow