How to Force Early Blooms from Flowering Trees and Shrubs

When I was a little girl, I thought forsythia was "Force Ithia". My mother cut armfuls of it during January thaws and brought it indoors to force. Some would still be flowering in February on my birthday; those large vases of bare sticks would be covered with pretty yellow flowers.

Many flowering trees and shrubs can be forced into bloom from dormant cuttings. Candidates are those that form their flower buds during the previous year. Besides forsythia, you can force pussy-willow, azalea, rhododendron, spirea, serviceberry, and flowering quince.

Don't forget flowering trees. Redbud and witch hazel trees will force, as will crab apple and any other fruit tree. Save your prunings from apple, cherry, peach and pear trees, and select some to force.

When to Cut
Make cuttings when the plants are still dormant. This is the time you should prune these types of plants, so you will be trimming them anyway. For forcing, select small branches with evident flower buds. There will be two kinds of buds: leaf buds and flower buds. Flower buds are usually a little larger and more round than leaf buds.

How to Cut
Cut as if you were doing regular pruning, so you don't injure the bush or make it misshapen. Angle-cut the ends of the trimmings that will be in the water in your vase. Some branches will take up more water and bloom faster if you crush the cut ends slightly. Do this gently. The object is to open the dormant vascular structures so they will transport water better, not to smash the ends of the cuttings.

How to Force
Place the branches in a vase, and fill it with cool water. If temperatures have been below freezing, I like to bring cuttings indoors gradually. A quick change from 20 degrees to room temperature is quite a shock, even for a dormant bud. I keep vases of cuttings on an unheated, enclosed porch for a day or two before bringing them inside. You can also acclimate cuttings by putting them in a cool basement for a day or so.

Keep the vase of "sticks" in a bright room. They don't need direct light, but they do need a regular light/dark cycle. Depending on the type of cutting and how near the plant was to natural blooming when you took cuttings, the flower buds should open in two to six weeks.

Forsythia and pussy-willow are the quickest to bloom.

Care
Keep fresh water in the vase. Change the water any time it begins to become cloudy.

BONUS: Some cuttings may begin to root in the vase. NEW PLANTS!

Read more from this author...Click Here.