the last of winter, the first of spring

I have a vase of forsythia on my kitchen table. Such a beautiful preview of spring. It’s on its way, even for those of us with freezing weather, snow, winter…

Next to the forsythia is the last of our amaryllis blooms. They were at their best while we were in New Orleans last week. Eight huge red blooms. Only two left, but still beautiful.

forcing blooms

What’s not to love?

amaryllis

Sweet spring.

forsythia

forsythia

My mother liked to force forsythia in late winter, and I’ve done the same. It’s a delight to see those bright canary yellow blossoms on a grey winter day!

It’s easy to force forsythia blooms. I looked at several sites with directions to see what they had to say. Most are overly complicated in my opinion. We cut the branches, put them in fresh tepid water, and wait, changing the water every four or five days. Voila! In 10-14 days, blooms!

You can’t be sure if the branches you cut will produce flowers or just green leaves, but the spring green is as welcome as the yellow. I hope you’ll give it a try. 🙂

~~Rhonda

2 Comments

  1. Mika in NC
    Posted January 16, 2008 at 8:19 pm | Permalink

    Or…you could see forsythia in bloom at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh! The kids and I were exploring outside today and came across a bank of it in bloom. We are supposed to get a “wintery mix” tonight and early tomorrow though, so I’m wondering if that’s all we’ll get to enjoy…

  2. Rhonda
    Posted January 17, 2008 at 3:09 pm | Permalink

    I can’t wait until we see it blooming outdoors here in southern IL. Love that time of year. In another five or six weeks, we will begin looking for the first crocus to pop up in the back yard. ~~Rhonda

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