Forcing The Issue
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Aahhh, the weather here is finally warming up. Spring is just around the corner, which means flowers and fragrances galore! I spent some time planting some pretty little pansies in my urns. That's about all I dare to plant right now because we'll likely have another snow storm before long.
One of my favorite sights of spring is the early-blooming, bright yellow flowers of the Forsythia bush. I'm fortunate to have several of these bushes. 
Their blooms are still a few weeks off, but I'm anxious for flowers so I thought I'd force them along. I cut several budding branches and hammered the ends. Hammering the ends gives more surface area for the water to come up the stems. You can do this with any branch that blooms, even fruit trees.
Then I placed them in a vase of luke-warm water inside my home. They'll be fooled into thinking that the warm days of Spring are here, and soon those stems will have an abundance of gorgeous bright yellow bell-shaped flowers.
I can't wait!
One of my favorite sights of spring is the early-blooming, bright yellow flowers of the Forsythia bush. I'm fortunate to have several of these bushes. 
Their blooms are still a few weeks off, but I'm anxious for flowers so I thought I'd force them along. I cut several budding branches and hammered the ends. Hammering the ends gives more surface area for the water to come up the stems. You can do this with any branch that blooms, even fruit trees.
Then I placed them in a vase of luke-warm water inside my home. They'll be fooled into thinking that the warm days of Spring are here, and soon those stems will have an abundance of gorgeous bright yellow bell-shaped flowers.
