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 Forced Branches

Have you ever tried to force flowering branches or bulbs to bloom indoors?  It can be a really fun project for little ones because they can help track the plants' growth.  Obviously, if you have a flowering shrub like forsythia or pussy willow in your yard, the easiest thing to do is snip off a branch and bring it inside.  But if you aren't lucky enough to have a flowering species, there are ways to fake the look.

 

Artificial branches can be purchased at almost any craft store or at retailers like Target, Pier One, and World Market.  House by Hoff made pink flowering branches look divine in pretty glass jars.

Alternatively, you could DIY your own forced branches by plucking off the blooms of an inexpensive stem of fake flowers (like those found at dollar stores), and hot gluing them to a real branch you find in your yard.