How to Force Blooms For Winter Flowers

2 Materials
10 Minutes
Easy

Who said we have to wait until spring to enjoy fresh blooms? There are many early blooming plants that you can bring inside and start enjoying the blooms right now. Here are some easy tips on How to Force Blooms for Winter Flowers. Forsythia, Quince and Fruit Blossoms are among my favorite.

Photo Credit: Southern Living


So grab your pruning shears and let’s get started and bring the outside in.




January & February are perfect months to bring those bare branches inside and watch them bloom.

I’ve had great success with forsythia, quince and most fruit stems. This includes, peach, plums & cherry stems.


Most early blooming plants set their buds in the fall. They then need to be dormant for at least 6 weeks prior to forcing.


All you need is to cut the branches and keep them moist until you are ready to arrange the stems.

Once you are ready to arrange, you will want to make a fresh angled cut to the stem. If the stem is woody, you will want to either cut upward into the stem or gently crush the stem.

Cut off any branches that would be inside the container under water.

Next fill your container with fresh water and arrange your stems.

If your container isn’t water tight, you can use another vessel to hold the water. Here I’m using a large tin can inside the Vintage Sap Bucket.

Replace the water every few days to keep the stems from molding.

As you can see even the bare branches look lovely in the right container. I will update this post as they begin to bloom.

In addition to forcing stems to bloom, you can also add bulbs to planters. Daffodils, Paperwhites and Tulips are all beautiful mixed with stems in Winter.

Here are 3 Paperwhite Bulbs already showing their buds. You can see aore About the DIY Greenhouse Here.


Place Stems in a Warm Spot to Speed Forcing.

Keep your arrangement in a warm area of your home. To speed up the process, you can place in a warm window that receives a lot of sunshine.

See Grace Cow Print Here!

Here you can see forced Forsythia blooms from last winter.

You can see plum blooms mixed with a button bush stem.

You can see plum blooms mixed with a button bush stem.


You might also enjoy this almost Free DIY Decorating Post.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Rachel

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  2 questions
  • Coleanne8 Coleanne8 on Jan 22, 2021

    Did you did you prune them in the fall or now?

  • Cheryl Cheryl on Jan 25, 2021

    Will it work with "weeping cherry" tree branches?

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  • Melissa Melissa on Jan 23, 2021

    Not a question, but your house is beautiful!!!! Couldn’t resist telling you. 😊

  • Katen Katen on Jan 18, 2023

    I have heard of forcing forsythia but none of the others. Knowing it’s possible really opens up my view. Love spring touches in late dreary winter/very early spring. Thanks for sharing

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