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How to Force Spring Blooms Indoors

By: Danny Flanders

Enjoy the season's earliest blooms by prodding branches to blossom inside.

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Photo: Richard Shiell/Monrovia

Forcing Spring Blooms

Give Mother Nature a little nudge and force spring-blooming quince and forsythia branches to bloom indoors.

Forsythia is among a number of early spring blooming shrubs and trees that can be forced to bloom indoors.

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Forcing Forsythia

Forsythia is among a number of early-spring blooming shrubs and trees that can be forced to bloom indoors.

Prune branches about 3 feet long, making the cut at an angle.

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Step 1: Make the Cut

Prune branches about 3 feet long, making the cut at an angle.

When buds like this quince get plump it's the perfect time to cut branches for forcing indoors.

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Step 2: Timing Is Everything

Choose a warm day when temperatures are well above freezing. Look for branches with plump, swollen flower buds. Don’t be confused by leaf buds; flower buds are rounder and larger. Cut branches that are about three feet long, making the cut at an angle to give the branch more surface area for absorbing water. Place the branches in a bucket of water and take indoors.