

There are actually several other plants that can provide bare twigs that can be "forced" into bloom in the home. Forcing is simply the acceleration of bloom of such twigs by cutting them and bringing them from cool winter weather into warm interior weather. Flowering quince, flowering cherry and flowering (purple leaf) plum have likely finished bloom, but forsythia, hawthorn, flowering crabapple and many of the various fruit trees that have colorful bloom will be ready to be forced any time. Some daring people even force redbud, dogwood, witch hazel, lilac and star and saucer magnolias.





Flower of the Week: Daphne

The small trusses of tiny, pale pink flowers of daphne, Daphne odora, really do not need to be too flashy with such powerful fragrance. Actually, the flowers might be considered to be less interesting than the glossy evergreen foliage. The most popular cultivar, "Marginata," has a narrow ivory or pale yellow edge to each leaf. Each leaf is only about 2 or 3 inches long. Each domed flower truss is about as big as half of a ping pong ball. Daphne is sometimes grown to complement and provide fragrance for boldly colorful but fragrantly deficient camellias.

Daphne is unfortunately notorious for being somewhat finicky. It likes rich soil and reasonably regular watering, but quickly rots if soil stays too damp or drains inadequately. The roots are quite sensitive to excavation. Partial shade is no problem. Yet, even the biggest and happiest specimens do not get much more than 3 feet high and 5 feet wide, and rarely live more than 10 years. Daphne is toxic, and the sap can cause dermatitis.
