Dogwood Branches
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Do you recognize this flower? Early dogwood blooms are green. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Dogwood Branches
If you are like me, you also enjoy bringing the garden inside and this is an easy way to add greenery, and some fun to your rooms. We all have trees and bushes that need spring trimming., Consider placing the trimmed parts in water in a flower vase and seeing if they will bloom inside. You may be surprised!
One of the first bushes I remember was good for cutting was spring-blooming Forsythia. I have a bush still blooming outside my living room window.
Spring-blooming forsythia is a popular shrub to bring inside. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
At this stage yellow Forsythia and the pink Eastern redbuds are far along in their bloom cycle but this way you can see how pretty they are.
Eastern redbuds starting to bloom in my garden. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Usually trimming occurs closer to February and early March when plants are dormant with little showing on their branches.
The warmth of the house helps the trimmed bushes bloom.
It can take 2-4 days depending on how warm the conditions are. It also helps to recut the bottom of the stems and place them in fresh water daily.
Another tree that will open inside once cut is the Flowering Dogwood, Missouri’s state tree. The branches in the photo were off of a trimmed tree without any flowers. Within two days the trimmed branches were in bloom. The early flowers are actually green.
Flowering dogwood tree branches now in bloom in my kitchen. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Here are the same flowering dogwood branches now 5 days later. The flowers are white.
Cut dogwood branches in water slowly unfurl their pretty blossoms. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)
Another wonderful bush, or small tree, to trim are pussy willows. In addition to the fuzzy catkins, the cut willows in water produce lovely flowers.
When you trim other spring trees and bushes, place them in a vase in water around the house. The branches provide an elegant focal point to watch and wait to see what pops out, literally!
Charlotte
