Happy Valentine’s Day Garden Bouquet

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is the day when some fortunate recipients are blessed with bouquets of lovely flowers or other cherished gifts. Frankly, since this can be a hit or miss occasion, I like to make my own dazzling arrangement harvested from my gardens.

One personal favorite is vibrant red-stemmed dogwood paired with rosy-pink pussy willows (Salix c. ‘Mt Aso’ – also called ‘Mt Asama’)). The willow’s fuzzy catkins make a nice contrast to the dogwood’s shiny red stems. Other woodies that can be forced, creating dazzling forerunners to spring (spring is less than five weeks away), are forsythia, crabapple, flowering almond, cherry, and redbud.

Early blooming shrubs and trees make the best choices for forcing. Simply grab your pruners, march out to your dormant beauty, and selectively remove branches that will not disfigure the plant. Cut stems on a diagonal. Before setting the branches into warm water, crush the ends to increase water uptake (some sources say this is not necessary). At this point I usually just place the vase in a cool, sunny location and change the water every three or four days to prevent ‘stinky cloudy water’. To reduce changing the water as often, you can add a floral preservative (per package instructions), that keeps water clear for up to a week or more. You can also make your own preservative by mixing one tablespoon of Listerine or one tablespoon of lemon-lime soda in a quart of water. Depending on the plant, flowers can emerge anywhere between two (pussy willows) and six weeks later.

So Happy Valentine’s Day to yourself! Or even better, to a loved one, friend, or someone that could use a friend….