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YARD AND GARDEN

Flowering shrubs can be forced indoors now

David Robson

The winter months can be great or depressing. The more overcast days, the more it becomes the latter. Anything that will pick up the spirits is worth its weight in gold.

Fall 1999 was bizarre, to put it mildly. Foliage color was outstanding, but rainfall was practically as worthless as certain things on a boar. Temperatures were high, but that only kept plants from going into dormancy.

On the other hand, plants didn't go in and out of dormancy like they did the previous years. Flower buds on some trees and shrubs after cold spells are plump but tight, making them ideal candidates to perk up your spirits by forcing them indoors.

Now, this doesn't mean taking a whip and chain and yelling, "Hey, move it inside or you'll be mulch!" It means selectively cutting some of the branches and stems and providing the ideal conditions for them to bloom inside.

A side benefit is the pruning that most trees and shrubs need now and then.

Some plants can be enjoyed without the need for flowers or leaves. Burning bush and red twig dogwoods have interesting bark or color. Judicious pruning encourages new growth and well-shaped plants.

For the red and yellow twig dogwoods, pruning out the long branches will encourage new shoots next spring. New shoots develop the intense winter bark colors, not the old thick limbs. Prune some of the limbs at ground level and put in a vase. You don't need to add water; they'll dry nicely and keep their color.

The same thing with burning bush, or winged Euonymus. Prune branches out uniformly around the plant, but cut back to another branch or trunk when removing the limbs.

Now the fun stuff — the flowering branches. Choose branches that need pruning or have the plumpest buds.

Forcing the limbs starts by softening the buds. Flowering limbs such as forsythia, viburnum, crabapple, flowering quince, peach, pear and redbud are cut and soaked overnight in warm water. I generally use the bathtub, filled halfway. Just remind people in the morning to open their eyes before showering.

After the soaking, limbs are snipped again, taking an inch off the bottom, placed in a bucket of lukewarm water and kept in the basement or someplace cool. Ideal forcing temperatures range from the low 60s during the day to low 50s at night. Warmer temperatures usually mean poorer equality flowers.

Intense colors develop with light, but light also provides extra warmth. It's an interesting Catch-22.

Make sure the branches are always in water. Change the water every couple of days, cleaning out the bucket to keep bacteria growth down.

High humidity helps. Houses during the winter tend to be on the dry side. Basements and bathrooms have higher humidity levels. You could put a clear plastic sheet over the branches, but allow for air movement.

Branches won't pop overnight. Some will quickly swell and open such as pussy willows and forsythia. Lilacs and flowering quince may take four weeks. Patience is a virtue.

You can take cuttings throughout the winter for continual blooms. The closer the time to the plant's natural flowering, the quicker they'll bloom indoors.

Don't forget that some plants look interesting leafing out instead of producing flowers. Beech, maple and cotton-woods have interesting buds as they expand and open. Even those can brighten up the drab winter months.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, University of Illinois Extension. You can write to Robson in care of Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-Mail: robsond@mail.aces.uiuc.edu

16 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JANUARY 2000