If you've got some spring-flowering plants in your yard 鈥� like , flowering quince, or witch hazel 鈥� they will begin to blossom in a few months on their own. You can trick them into thinking spring has come earlier by cutting some branches and.
And while you're out gathering branches to force-bloom, this is also a great time to prune your trees and shrubs. First, head out to your yard with a good pair of pruners. Look for branches on your spring-flowering trees and shrubs that already have large flower buds on them. A flower bud will stand out away from the stem a bit, versus a leaf bud, which will be close to the stem.
When you're cutting lengths of branches, try not to change the overall shape of the tree or shrub. Snip branches between 6 and 18 inches long and bring them indoors for blooming. (Note that the closer you are to the tree鈥檚 actual flowering time, the faster it will flower indoors.)
To force some blossoms indoors in mid-February, choose the types of trees that normally bloom in early spring, like flowering quince, Cornelian cherry and forsythia. In March, try to force branches like crabapples and deciduous fruit trees, or even lilacs, redbuds and magnolias.
Once you've cut some stems, bring them inside, and place the cut ends in a pail of water to soak overnight. The next morning, recut the bottoms of the stems and add them to a vase with warm water and a bit of powdered floral fertilizer.
Leave the branches in water in a warm room, and in one to four weeks, flowers will bloom indoors right up until the spring. You may even get a second blooming, too!
When to prune rhododendrons to accommodate nesting robins
Q: Each year, I plan to cut back my rhododendrons, but the robins that nest in them arrive early and make it challenging to schedule pruning. If I prune in February or early March, do I risk damaging my plants? I realize that if I prune before their arrival I will lose some blossoms, but that may be a choice that I need to make. - Peggy, in Hartford, NY
A: A classic gardening conundrum: If you prune too early, you'll remove blooms. If you wait, the robins will have already begun nesting!
As a way to discourage the birds from nesting too early, you might try to place something inside the rhododendron bush that might deter them for a bit.
Perhaps you could wrap or tie some of the branches with mesh or twine and that could buy you some time. And that way, you could go in on schedule to prune, then later, untie the branches and the robins can move in.
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