Forcing Blooms Indoors!

I've blogged about forcing blooms before.  It's one of those awesome things those of us in snowy climates can do to make it through the looooong end of winter/beginning of Spring.  Any woody shrub that blooms early in Spring made the flower buds last fall.  The buds are sitting there, waiting for warm weather.  If you prune them and bring them inside - they will bloom for you!  I quite often do this in March; I am a little late this year but our heavy snow fall made it hard to get into the garden.  Kathy, over a Cold Climate Gardening, usually does hers in what she calls 'mud season'.  She's got an excellent post about pruning her forsythia here, for gorgeous golden blooms.  I've pruned my double flowered plum (Prunus triloba 'Multiplex'), and in about five or six days I'll have gorgeous, frilly pink blooms in my vase.  As you can see from my photo, with a back drop of snow, the bare branches are still quite dormant.  Good pruning rules apply - cut side branches back to the branch where they join, or cut just above a node where leaves will come out:  don't leave big, ugly stubs.  This will work on plums, eating and ornamental apples and crab apples, almonds, pears.  I've had mixed success with lilacs: the flowers are often stunted but have decent fragrance.  Give it a try for a beautiful, free bouquet!

Winter Interest in the Snowy Garden

It's always worthwhile to consider some winter interest in your garden - regardless of where you live. Here in Manitoba, we've got to count on a bunch of snow covering everything, so things with height are important. Evergreens are major, providing more substance than just naked branches. We're fortunate here to be surrounded by well-established spruce and some pines. I've added some dwarf Mugo Pine and upright juniper in the border in front of the house and along the driveway. There's are a few other things providing pleasure now. Sedum 'Autumn Joy' (Sedum), a joy in sooo many seasons! Red-twigged dogwood (Cornus), looking good against the brick wall around the front patio. The flower heads of coneflower (Echinacea), which little birdies are still visiting for a snack. And some of our favorite winter interest: local wildlife! This visit from a partridge, commonly called Prairie chicken around here, was rare, unexpected and fortunately happened while the camera was handy! They rarely come so close to the house and usually fly away at the least sound or movement.

Are We The Last Place in The Universe.....

Are we the last place in the Universe where the peonies have started blooming? Being that we follow gardening blogs from around the world, I've been seeing lovely peony pictures for months. Even Prairie Chicken, a Winnipeg blogger I enjoy immensely, had pictures of her peonies three weeks ago! Winnipeg is only two and a half hours from here! Well, ours are finally blooming, although I admit I took the few open blooms for a bouquet. Farmer Man loves bouquets in the house, as do I, so we make the most of it while we can! Peonies are such an awesome, easy care, reliable perennial for us. Admittedly, did submerge the peonies in a sink of water for a while to get rid of the ants.....the ants seem to love them for their pollen as much as we love them for bouquets!

In All It's Glory...

We blogged here about forcing the stems of early blooming shrubs like double-flowered plum or forsythia. Well, here's the double flowered plum in all its' glory in the garden - just a sight to behold! This is an awesome shrub for Prairie gardeners; hardy, reliable, gorgeous spring bloom and pretty fall colour. Give it the room it needs and please, please, please don't give it little haircuts on its' tips, which ruins its' natural shape. Now, I must admit that the bloom is maybe a week of glory, if it's not windy. But well worth it! For some gorgeous close-ups, visit Prairie Girl Studios - some delightful photographs there! I was waiting rather impatiently for mine - some of the shrubs in protected town gardens started blooming two weeks ago. Well worth the wait, I'd say!

Double Flowered Plum - Forced

It's hard, some days, reading gardening blogs and websites from around the world and seeing all the lovely things in bloom - elsewhere.  Here in Manitoba we're just barely starting to green up, while Washington DC has cherry blossoms galore, California is harvesting the first garden peas and the Southern States have rhododendrons in their full glory.  Oh, well!  Inside our house, the stems of double flowered plum are starting to bloom and it's lovely.  You may have read the post on forcing - these were pruned just a short time ago and literally just dumped in a vase.  The warmth of the house convinces them that's it's late spring.  It's probably at least three weeks, maybe four before they bloom in the garden, so they are a joy to have now!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all, and enjoy a lovely Spring day!  Easter and Spring both seem early for us on the Prairies, this year.  We were given a lovely bouquet of pussy willows by our neighbours Fred and Laurie of Evergreen Valley Nursery.  They cut and bundle pussy willow for Easter, selling particularly to churches.  Some years it works out and some it doesn't.  This year is perfect for pussy willows for Easter.  The flowers are perfect for the exact day, no forcing required!  It is such a sign of Spring to have the pussy willows, a sign of hope, and regeneration.  Hope you're enjoying a lovely bouquet of something this day!

Forcing Bloom

This post may be a little late for West Coast or Southern gardeners, but it's very timely for Prairie gardeners.  Did you know you can enjoy the blooms of some of your favourite spring shrubs inside, now?  I'm actually late this year - I quite often force blooms in late February or early March.  Now, you may have heard of forcing bulbs - they are specially cold-treated to make them think that their Winter dormant period has happened; things like hyacinth are often available at the garden centres at Christmas.  Early blooming shrubs and trees like forsythia, double flowered plum, apples, crabapples and plums actually made their flower buds last fall.  They are all wrapped up and protected, just waiting for spring so that they can burst forward.  I've been out this weekend pruning our double flowered plum, and I've got a nice collection of stems in a vase in the house.  You can see the fat little buds on the stems.  In a week or so, these will burst into bloom and make an awesome display.  I'll post the blooms.  It really brightens the early, early Spring here on the Prairies when so much seems gray or brown, dusty and dirty.  I have tried this with lilac before, always with disappointing results: small flowers, odd shaped heads but still decent fragrance.  Give it a try!