MAINE, USA — It may be the middle of winter, but you can create a taste of spring indoors by forcing bulbs and flowering branches.
Eric Anthony, a floral designer with Harmons Floral Company, showed Gardening with Gutner how easy it was to bring some color into the cold drab winter.
Forcing bulbs
Choose the container you want your bulbs to grow in. Anthony recommends a tall glass vase for paperwhites because the sides will support the tall flower stalks.
There are different materials you can use as the medium to grow bulbs:
- Pebbled stones
- Gravel
- Marbles
- Soil
The floral designer chose pebbled stones for his container. He instructed to nestle the bulbs into the stones. An important note is to not put the base of the bulb in water, because it will rot.
"The roots of the bulb will find the water as long as it's on top of the pebbles," Anthony explained.
Amaryllis and paperwhites are the easiest bulbs to force. Other bulbs need to be chilled, because they need to experience a cold period of time. For a complete list of bulbs and their chill times, click here.
Flowering branches
Readily available and extremely easy to flower. flowering branches offer a beautiful taste of spring.
- Cut anytime
- 4-6 inches of water
- Use flower food and water clarifier
"A lot of times they will even root in there and you can plant them outside in your yard," the floral designer disclosed.
Best flowering branches according to finegardening.com:
- Forsythia
- Pussy willow
- Cherry
- Witch hazel
- Bradford pear
- Fothergilla
- Tulip magnolia
- Quince
- Dogwood
- Lilac
"Just forgo apple, because the petals drop almost immediately. Not worth doing. You'll thwart your spring experience," Anthony warned.
Even though there are several weeks of winter left, forcing bulbs and flowering branches can make spring seem within reach.