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.
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 quickly force forsythia flowers to bloom and brighten your home this winter.
I was excited to be shared by HOMEBNC.com
Seeing the Home BNC share this post on their website was an honor. You can see their article – Best Flower Arrangement Ideas.
This is the image they included when sharing my article.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Wonderful idea. I think that I will head out and trim some branches today. Thank you so much.
Right on! I hope your.post today encourages others to.plunder the area for branches that.make a free bouquet and makes them smile. I haven’t tried apple but will today!!!!
My paper.whites are blooming.in the sun porch. I need everything available to get me to spring in Delaware. Thanks again.
What is next?
Ethel,
I agree the winter months can be trying. I have to bring some fresh spring feels inside.
Renae,
I’m so glad you found this helpful.
Beautiful!
Rebecca,
I’m so glad you like this.
Rachel this was so helpful! I love the look of forced branches…excited to try this!
Kelly,
I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Rachel
What a great idea, Rachel! Who couldn’t use some pretty blooms and color to help get us through these gloomy winter days.
Jen,
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Rachel
This was so informative Rachel! Such a great idea!
Ana,
Thanks for stopping by.
Wow, I didn’t know there was such a thing, Rachel! Perhaps that’s because I don’t have the right kind of plants around to do this. You’ve inspired me to look for them, though! How lovely to have blooms in winter. Pinned!
Crissy,
I hope you find some. Rachel
I have always wanted to do this, but not sure if I have trees around my area (or that are available to me) to get cuttings from. When you say ‘dormant’, do you mean you have to wait to cut them for 6 weeks after the buds appear? (Pinned)
Julie
I’m no expert but I think it means after all the leaves are gone. In the late fall most plant stop growing and are considered dormant. I hope this helps.
My mom did this every winter and I loved watching the blooms appear. Just the other day I was trying to think of a Forsythia bush in my neighborhood that I could clip to do this. I love getting free flowers to use in my home.
Paula,
Thanks for stopping by. I do this almost every year. Love the first blooms of Spring.
This is such useful information Rachel. I love forsythia blooms in winter/early spring.
Hello, I am a new subscriber and I tried to look up on your blog the state you live in. We are in Minnesota and boy, oh, boy, no one here can cut branches to force blooms until sometime in April. When I read that a good time to do this is Jan or Feb, I had to laugh. Not “at you”, but our current weather. It has been snowing for the last 7 or 8 hours and no one is giving a thought yet to Spring blooms. I appreciate your blog with ideas on how to bring life to old items. Please tell us what state you are from.
Donna,
Oh that’s so interesting. I’m from North Carolina. I really appreciate your input. My research shows that you should be able to bring those branches inside to get them to bloom anytime after they have dormant for 6 weeks. I’m not sure if my sources are correct. I’d love for you to try it and see what happens.
I’m so glad you found me. Thanks for following along.
I went right out and gathered some forsythia. They look beautiful already, but I can’t wait for them to start blooming. I think I’ll try Apple and plum as well. Thank you!
Lisa,
I’m so glad you found this helpful. I bring mine in every winter and love the touch of early Spring in the house. Thank you for stopping by.
Great post Rachel! Love forcing blooms in winter!
Yes, It helps to brighten the house.
Rachel, I remember growing up with forced forsynthia branches! However they do not grow here in Phoenix. But I have forced peach and apple. Great post as usual!!
Mary,
Yes fruit tree branches work great as well. Thanks for stopping by.
Rachel, all your forces blooms look so beautiful in your home. I love doing this every year. Definitely helps when awaiting for spring. Have a great week. – Meagan
Yes, I agree. Thanks for stopping by.
Okay. This is my reminder that I need to plant some flowering shrubs this year so I can do this!! Love how they look in your house!
Anne,
These do so well in the south. Come over and I’ll give you all you need. Seriously.
I don’t have the trees or shrubs to do this from my own yard but Kroger, Trader Joes and garden nurseries will have branches to buy. Sadly these can be expensive to order but Terrain has them as well if you wish to pay. Love your green house you created Rachel. One day maybe we will have the land to do that too. If we don’t retire to a beach area as my husband wishes…thanks for reminding me to pick up some branches..maybe a bulb or 2? :0)
Lori,
You are welcome. I hope you find what you need. Also check with neighbors and friends.
Beautiful Rachel! You are so lucky to be able to go pick these stems.
Wendy,
They grow like crazy here.
I’ve never thought about doing this, but love the idea! Thanks so much for planting the seed!
Kristy,
Thanks for stopping by. I do this every winter. It helps to brighten the house.
Ahhh. Spring in the house.
Lovely.
Janis,
Yes I agree. Happy New Year.