March 06, 1980 - Now Is the Time to Bring Spring IndoorsSECOND SECTION MARCH 6, 1980
Now Is the Time to Bring Spring Indoors
Friday night they predicted we were in
for the coldest period of the year. Where
did that spring trend go that was here just
last week? My indicators told me it was
very cold outside, for as I went out to feed
the chickens deep inside the trees were
cracking. This phenomenon only occurs
when the trees freeze and the strong
northwest wind blows, giving those famil-
iar snapping sounds.
Knowing there was a cold night ahead, I
made a special effort to check out all the
nests the chickens had laid their eggs in for
if I left the eggs there overnight I'd surely
find frozen, cracked ones in the morning. I
have the usual nesting boxes in the coop
where most of the flock lay, but the others
for some reason seem to love to play
hide -and -seek with me and it involves a
thorough search. I guess it's like people;
some go along and do the conventional
thing while for some unknown reason
others pay little heed and do their own
thing. Guess we need both to make the
system work and make life more interest-
ing.
It's just about twilight now and as I look
to the west where the afterglow of the
sunset lies I can see two or three chickens
high in the oaks. They will spend the night
there shunning my chicken house and will
pay for their stubborness not to go inside
with frostbitten combs for the rest of the
winter.
Breath of Spring In Branches
Most of us are anxious for spring to
come, and so each year about this time I
bring in dormant branches that carry
with them the breath of spring. This will
have to do me until the real thing comes
along. The one, of course, that is most
synonymous with spring is the pussy
willow, a member of the large, fast -grow-
ing willow family.
Willows have a special place for many,
for they are one of the easiest trees to
propagate. I have a line of willows around
the pond down in the pasture that I planted
years ago, When we first came here there
was nothing but an open field out back,
with a low spot that had at one time been a
pond. We had the land reclaimed because
it had filled in by silting, caused by years
of improper farming. Contour farming
evidently was not the practice in those
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days and most the land washed off the
sides of the hill into the pond.
One day when I was driving about I
passed a heap of willow branches someone
had pruned from a tree. I picked them up
and made cuttings about three feet long
and poked them in the wet earth around
our pond. Today, believe it or not, they're
30 feet tall and two and three feet in
diameter. Willows of all sorts love water,
and they surely had it here with their feet
in the edge of the pond.
Rooted Slips or Dry Bouquets
The pussy willow I brought into the
house last week had tight buds along the
stems, but by today they have swelled and
burst their cages and are now the familiar
pussy willows we all have come to enjoy
each spring. Not only do I gain pleasure
from them now but after they bloom, if
kept in water, they will start to leaf out and
grow roots. It's a simple matter to then
plant them and have your own new or
additional pussy willows. Should you not
want the rooted slips, merely take the
pussy willows out of the water and let them
dry at the height of their fuzziness. Now
you'll have a long - lasting dry bouquet -- a
fond memory of spring.
Something more colorful that works
equally well is the beautiful yellow forsyth-
ia. We've already had one gorgeous
blossoming of this immigrant from China
and have another cutting coming along to
take over when this one goes. Everyone
should have a forsythia bush, for it
requires very little care and gives much
pleasure. The one thing it does like is
sunlight. This and half -way decent soil are
all it requires. The trimming back each
year that I've suggested for early blossom-
ing only seems to stimulate the plant and
help it along.
It takes little effort to cut off a few small
limbs and bring them inside, but there is
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FORCED FORSYTHIA- -This early harbinger of spring is easily brought
to life by merely bringing it inside anytime from now on to watch the
familiar yellow blossoming. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
much enjoyment out of watching the buds
swell and eventually see the blossoming
plant. And so, get out the shears this
spring, search around your own property,
and if you don't have a pussy willow or
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forsythia, I'm sure a neighbor would be
glad to share with you this unique exper-
ience of bringing spring into the home
ahead of time to enjoy. Try it.
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