Cheat Winter: Force Forsythia Flowers & More To Bloom Indoors Now

If you’d like to brighten your winter home, see these easy tips on how to force forysthia bush flowers to bloom for winter decorating. It’s easy to force forsythia flowers, quince flowers, and many fruit tree blossoms. Bring an early touch of Spring into your home with my favorite stems to help cheat winter.

Who said we have to wait until spring to enjoy fresh flower blooms? There are many early blooming plants that you can bring inside and start enjoying the blooms right now for free.

Y’all know that I’m all about budget-friendly decorating, so instead of spending money on fresh-cut flowers, let’s bring some bare stems inside and force some blooms.

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What is the Common Name of Forsythia Flowers?

One of the easiest stems to force early blooms is the forsythia bush.

Many refer to the forsythia flowers as yellow bells because the plant produces small bell-shaped yellow blooms in early spring. Once the plant’s leaves form, the yellow bells fade and disappear until next spring. My mother always called them yellow bells, and I still do on occasion.

When Should You Force Forsythia Bush Blooms?

January & February are perfect months to bring those bare forsythia bush branches inside and watch them bloom.
In addition to the forsythia bush, I’ve had great success with quince bush and most fruit stems. This includes peach, plums & cherry stems.

Most early-blooming plants set their buds in the fall. They must be dormant for at least six weeks before forcing.

How To Force Forsythia Flowers?

I have several forsythia bushes around the farmhouse, and I love seeing the yellow blooms inside the house during winter.

With these simple steps, you can easily force forsythia flowers to bloom and brighten your home this winter.

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Steps to Force Forsythia Flowers To Bloom Early.

These are the steps to force forsythia flowers to bloom during the winter months.

Are you ready? Grab your pruning shears and bring a little sunshine to the inside of your home.

You only need to cut the branches with pruning shears and keep them moist until you are ready to arrange the stems.

Once ready to arrange, you want to make a fresh, angled cut to the stem.

If the stem is woody, cut it upward and gently crush the end to allow more water absorption.

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

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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. I’m using a large tin can inside the Vintage Sap Bucket.

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

As you can see, even the bare branches look lovely in the correct container. Continue to see the updates as they begin to bloom.

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Where To Place Forsythia Stems To Speed Forcing?

Now that you have your stems arranged, let’s speed up the blooming.

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

This forsythia flower stems are getting lots of sunshine and will quickly begin to bloom to help decorate this corner for winter.

I’ve added a touch of Valentine’s with this DIY wooden heart swag.

After one week of forcing the blooms, we are starting to see a few yellow bell buds.

After just two weeks and three days, the stems fill in with blooms. There are still several forsythia flower buds ready to open soon.

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Forced Forsythia Bush Blooms and More From Previous Seasons

A large ironstone pitcher is filled with forced forsythia bush blooms on last year’s winter table.

The lovely blooms make a great free centerpiece for the dining table.

Grace Prints are available here.

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A vintage enamelware stock pot is filled with forced plum blooms mixed with buttonbush stems. They add a spring-like feel to the farmhouse kitchen and are budget-friendly as well.

A great way to use forced forsythia blooms is to mix them with your seasonal décor.

A vintage encyclopedia box is used as the coffee table centerpiece and holds forced forsythia flowers and concrete bunnies in anticipation of an early spring.

I love filling this corner of the farmhouse with amazing blooms each winter.

Forced Bulbs in Winter

In addition to forcing forsythia flowers to bloom, you can force bulbs to bloom in winter. Daffodils, Paperwhites, Amaryllis, and Tulips are all beautiful mixed with stems in Winter.

I love to force paperwhites for the holidays. They look beautiful as table arrangements and last into January.

I have placed paperwhite bulbs inside the greenhouse on a few warm days, and the three bulbs are showing their buds already.

Another great bulb that many force around the holidays and into winter is the Amaryllis bulb. Its beautiful flowers really brighten the house in winter.

If you’d like to learn more about our greenhouse, you can read How to Build a DIY Greenhouse.

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Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this budget-friendly option for adding fresh flower blooms to your home during winter.

I look forward to sharing more budget decorating ideas and adventures with you soon.

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