Force Branches, Bulbs Indoors for Taste of Spring

Whether you're looking for an elegant centerpiece for your next dinner party, an inexpensive, low-carb Valentine's Day gift, or just a little wintertime pick-me-up, a bouquet of blooming dogwood, forsythia, and honeysuckle stems nicely does the trick. For that matter, so does a container of tulips in full flower! Technically, any type of tree, shrub, or bulb which naturally blooms in the early spring can be convinced to do its thing indoors. Of course, some types do take a little more convincing than others.

Fooling Branches

Taking only a couple of weeks to force out of season, forsythia, honeysuckle, and red maple are great options for beginners and the less patient. Wisteria, cherry, and lilac branches will take about a month to come around, and flowering dogwood and most fruit trees can take a little longer than that.

As soon as trees and shrubs have been exposed to several weeks of cold weather, you can select the branches you wish to force. For best results, choose a day when temperatures are above freezing, and cut branches so they're at least 12 inches long. You'll also want to remove any extra buds and side branches near the base of the stem.

Bring them indoors and make a fresh 45-degree-angle cut at the base of each stem. Place your branches in a sturdy container or vase and add a few inches of warm water to the bottom. To further stimulate the blooming process, add in a mild plant supplement like Superthrive. Keep the plain water or Superthrive solution level topped off at all times, and replace with fresh once each week. Finally, because the branches will perform best out of direct sunlight, placing them in a north-facing window works well.

Tricking Bulbs

Forcing tender and hardy bulbs is just a little trickier. Unless you purchase pre-chilled spring-flowering bulbs from your local nursery, you'll have to handle the cold-storage part yourself. Essentially, you must play Mother Nature by manufacturing "winter" all by yourself--that means keeping potted bulbs in a 40-degree cellar, garage, or out building for several weeks.

If you go the pre-chilled route, choose only the largest, healthiest specimens on hand, and plant them in a container with adequate drainage. Most bulbs do best in a medium-weight potting soil such as Fox Farm's Ocean Forest potting mix.

Once they start to grow, they can be placed in a spot with warm ambient temperatures and plenty of bright, indirect light. All that's left to do is wait, keep the plants well watered, and enjoy the show. (For a dash of color in the meantime, you can also sprinkle some spare grass seed around your bulbs. Keep the grass seed moist, and you'll have a nice green backdrop in just a few days.)

It is important to note that the forcing process is a bit taxing for the bulbs. If, after forcing a bulb to bloom inside, you choose to replant it in your garden bed, it may be a few years before it is able to store up enough energy to bloom normally again.