IF YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING

This time of year children wonder if the winter will ever pass. You can create your own harbinger of spring. Just cut branches of forsythia and then set them in a large vase filled with room-temperature water. In a few short weeks spring will arrive when the branches green up and burst into bloom. To pull off a similar feat of an early spring, try forcing your own shrubs and trees into bloom between 1 and 2 months before actual flowering time. Good candidates include pussy willow, flowering quince, and ornamental cherries and pears.