Some of the earliest of spring flowers are done blooming. More are just beginning. Then, a few early spring flowers barely qualify as early. Their fresh color is especially pleasing after such an atypically wintry winter. Many are delightful cut flowers. A few that bloom on bare deciduous stems are conducive to forcing. Even the earliest bloom could be earlier.
Bare stems are simpler and less wasteful to force to bloom than bulbs and potted plants. Most bulbs and some potted plants do not survive long after forcing. Dormant deciduous plants easily replace a few forceable stems. Forcing such stems is as simple as bringing cut flowers into a home. The difference is that it is premature, immediately prior to bloom.
Flower buds on dormant deciduous stems begin to swell during warming spring weather. Such stems are ready for forcing when these floral buds are about to pop open. Ideally, a bit of floral color should be visible through some of the bud scales. A few flowers may be blooming. Collective bloom accelerates within the warmth of a home interior after cutting.
Flowering but fruitless counterparts of popular fruit trees are some of the best for forcing. These include but are not limited to flowering cherry, plum, apricot and other stone fruits. Flowering pomme fruit trees, such as quince, crabapple and pear are almost as popular. Related fruiting stone and pome fruit trees are as conducive to forcing, but not as garish.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with simpler bloom. Some fancy flowering cherry trees bloom with single white flowers like fruiting cherries. However, cutting stems from fruiting trees decreases fruit production. With a bit of planning, dormant pruning can allow a few undesirable stems to remain. These stems are then available for cutting and forcing later.
Witch hazel cultivars are exemplary for forcing, but are done blooming. Flowering quince and forsythia are now finishing within most climates. Redbud, lilac, wisteria and perhaps weigela are still conducive to forcing. Dogwood and deciduous magnolia can perform as well if humidity is not too minimal. So should some acacias, although their fragrance and pollen may be distasteful.
Tony Tomeo 
I can’t think of any stems in my garden that could be forced. The grocery stores used to sell forsythia we could force in the spring.
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Within the many acres of landscaping at work, besides the several flowering cherries, there is only forsythia and a dinky flowering quince for forcing. Dogwood does not perform well to forcing here, perhaps because of the (typically) mild winter weather.
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There is a lilac also, but I have never been able to force it either.I know that it works farther inland, and in the Sierra Nevada.
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I have never tried lilac. But another one that works well here is flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) which flowers white instead of pink when forced. 😃
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?! The same plants that bloom white inside bloom pink outside?! That is odd. I did not consider that species. It grows wild here.
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Well, I had a Ribes sanguineum ‘King Edward VII’ in my last garden which is the most common garden variety here. It has very large reddish pink flowers. But they are white, at best very pale pink when forced…. if I were a botanist I would probably know why. But I have no idea!
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Oh, I remember that name now. I remember it because it seemed odd that such a Californian plant would have a name such as that. I should try to force such stems next year. I do happen to like the bloom. I never bring it in though.
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