Forsythia doesn’t meekly flower in spring.  It turns from a camouflaged brown bunch of twigs to a shouting ball of yellow.  “Look at me!” it commands.  Against a neutral world of hibernating life, it truly stands out and proudly announces that Spring has finally arrived.  I decided to cheat a little because I’m simply getting impatient.  I cut some Forsythia twigs that had been damaged by the heavy snow and put them in water on my kitchen windowsill.  A week and a half later, I have the happiest yellow bouquet. I also have a red leaf plum tree in front of my porch that has the loveliest red leaves in summer. I clipped a few limbs from this tree, which is nothing but grey and empty right now, and also put them in water.  Just this morning I discovered little pink blooms that normally wouldn’t be popping out until late April/early May.  Patience is a virtue, but why wait?  I get to see these blooms twice this year.