What am I forcing?

Asking Smarty Pants if he can guess what this is that I am forcing.......Oh and by the way, since it is the first time I have tried to force this...will it ???

Looks like a Viburnum of some sort. (I assume I am NOT the smarty pants you were referring to!)

May the force be with you.....you do mirrors?heh heh......

Well you are correct (in both) because you are ONE of the smarty pants around here. The real one is Viburnum Valley...I wonder if he can guess which Viburnum. I still think it is unbelieveable that you all can identify something without leaves and just from a picture. Blows my mind.......

That would be a Viburnum...

I want the vase!

I want the coffered ceiling. Just curious, did you smash the ends of the branches with a hammer?

I want to meet the good-looking chick in the photograph!

Scott

This message was edited Mar 15, 2006 8:46 PM

Levorotatory:

Add a little smoke in your next image, and you'll have provided every form of obfuscation possible.

It looks like......one of the Viburnum carlesii relatives.

The big terminal flower buds, lack of persistent foliage, and color of stems point to this group. The vigor of the length between nodes tells me it isn't V. carlesii, V. x 'Cayuga', or V. x juddii. I'm going out on a Caprifoliaceae limb and say that it's ....... (submitted by Dmail to author of this thread).

You have collected quite a bit of wood there. It may very well "force", but you'll have better luck if you are able to mist the stems (in a bathtub or shower stall) periodically in order to support that much wood while the buds/leaves all become imbibed and open. If you mainly want flowers to fill out, you should strip off some of the leaf buds further down on the stems so that the terminals get most of the liquid benefit.

Scott -- meet Carly Carpinus. Carly, meet Scott "the Cincy Slobberer".

I knew it right off the bat. Its a bush! A viburnum is only a little different way to spell bush. HeeHee

Smarty, how else could I have fooled you except with my trick photography? It is juddii. Thanks for the tip of lugging that thing in the shower but it isn't going to happen. I want it to open for Easter but maybe I should have waited and just gone out the day before and cut some..maybe it would be open by then. I am guessing you have never forced a Viburnum? You mean you're not a phlar ranger?

Oh...and Willis....I did NOT crush the branches (probably should have). and that is just plywood stuck to the ceiling..you wouldn't want it.

Scott Thanks I happen to be that chick in the picture LOL


Mags== Levilya's daughter!! LMAO ROTFLOL

Hey levilyla, Voila! Bring the shower to the stems and mist away!

http://www.stevecross.co.uk/bathroom%20accessories/Myson/shower_curtain_rails.htm

Ohhhhhhh big boy Scotty! Come out come out where ever you are! The good looking chick (you dated yourself using the word chick dear) in the photo has manifested herself!

Phlar Ranger!

Now, there's a great DG handle! I need to save that one, and rank it right up there with Cha Dune and Jamaican (answered in dmail only, please).

I have finessed the forcing of finicky flowers; in the Viburnum clan, I have only done this with Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' (three times this winter alone). Stretching the point...back in the days of horticulturist (former profession) I'd push things like Cornus florida and Cercis canadensis to see what would happen. I always had wood available since there were always plants to be pruned. This is where the "misting in the shower stall" technique got to play out.

Magoobu:

Excuse Debauchery, for he is trying to recover his reputation after a certain wardrobe malfunction while on The Great Adventure to the wilds of the middle IL tundra with SmartyPants. In fact, he is so far off the straight-and-narrow that a certain clone of Betula may be named for his Presumed Predilection.

Now remember...this is about Viburnums..not DATESFORDECUMBENT....that is creepy...or creeping?

Oh and thanks Equil. I have ordered the shower ring and hope to install it in my living room soon. It should be very helpful in the forcing issue and not be too noticeable. I may just stand on the desk and shower myself..it would be so much easier.

Glad to be of help. Are there any other troublesome spots in your home that I could help you accessorize? As you can see, I'm quite talented in the home decorating department. I don't know where these inspirations come from to use such ordinary objects in decorating schemes but fortunately they just sort of hit me!

Who else wants decorating help? Don't be shy.

How about figuring out how I could just plant that whole Viburnum in my living room...it would look so natural maybe over by the window and at Christmas I could throw a few balls on it.

A Christmas Viburnum! How innovative. Have you ever seen those concrete ducks outside people's homes that they dress up based on the season or the holiday? You could do the same thing with the Viburnum! Little red hearts for Valentine's Day, Shamrocks and pots of gold for St Patrick's Day, gayly decorated Easter eggs for Easter- the possibilities are endless! If a Viburnum such as that was in your front window... why you'd be the envy of the entire neighborhood! You'd be the talk of the town! Everyone would be wanting to copy you!

I know you were joking however I have seen a few homes that actually have recessed planters and recessed ponds inside. They are quite attractive when tastefully created. A girlfriend of mine lives in a Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style home. It is one of the neatest homes I've ever been in and rivals those in the Oak Park area. Her living room is generously proportioned and sunken. I bet that area is about 30 x 30. Anyway, what divides this space from other living areas is an L shaped hip wall that has planters running the entire length and in the corner of the L built in to the actual living room area, there is just such an area as what you described and she has some of a tree like thing in there. I forgot what it was. She has several massive skylights and the room is offset and sticking out from the home so two sides are solid glass so she definitely gets enough light to grow what ever she wants in there. Truly a neat design however it is steel and concrete reinforced from underneth to support the weight.

well that does sound wonderful.......no duck...but how about a dog...

Oh yes, I do recall that wardrobe malfunction happening to Decadent -- it occured on my front sidewalk! Too bad no one got a photo to send to Mags. It might have been the start of a great romance! I doubt she would have been able to supress her carnal urges after seeing that.

Now, let's see . . . just which Betula clone might be involved here . . .
Duraheat?

Guy S.

Mom your dog looks great!!!!

I hate to be a spoil sport but Decumbent is so happily married to his lovely bride of so many years that I strongly suspect he would run for the hills if any female ever showed an interest in him. And Guy, stop being mean to him about his blow out and besides which... mags appears to be married herself based on that photo so she's got a husband and has probably seen blow outs before! If you want to give us ladies a thrill, you're going to have to do better than one measly partial blow out!

Levilyla, your dog is fun! Love it. Do you do anything for other holidays? And I have another question to ask you now that I keep seeing photos of your property that always look so meticulously maintained and well designed with every imaginable attention to detail present in the landscape- are you independently wealthy (as in sleeping on mattresses filled with money to pay professionals) or do you have a landscape designer/architect in the family? If you do, can you send him/her my way! I need some serious help out my way! The only other possibility is that you have an incredible gift for pulling things together and that once gardening season comes, you have been out on your land from sun up to sun down for a few decades.

Dear Levijeans, will barter(trade)your stoned dawg for my Finston Plumbob,shown here serving a tasty Sumac limb...(what I really would like is a stoned dawg hitching one leg up with a hidden mister going on in there..lol!)Happiest St.Patty day to you!(Hi,Bu!).....Dave....

Hi Davers!!!!!

Eqil!!!! I am happily married with a young son! That picture is with my hubby on My wedding day LOL

But the compliment was still very nice...

I will let Mom answer about the "wealthy" bit or her helpers LMAO

But since she is too shy to answer the other she has an incredible knack for pulling things together and she did all of it (except installation of ponds/walls/or stairs by herself for the most part.

Her Dh can be pulled into the yard on occasion but she works very very hard to maintain such a wonderful garden!!!!

Dave..he should at least have a drink on that tray. Equil. I have NO help..well my husband would kill me for saying that because he does do the hard things and wheel barrowing mulch etc. My garden is NOT repeat NOT pristine in any way shape or form...I just make sure the camera is pointed in the right direction. I do have a son and a stepson who are landscape designers and both work for different companies now. They used to have their own business and it just didn't work out. My son is the one who had multiple myeloma (now in remission) and when he was going through a stem cell transplant his partner stole the company away from him. If I only knew Tony Sprano's phone number! And finally my daughter, Anne, is very happily married with a 6 year old son. Let's see, was this about Viburnum forcing? Have we drifted away again?

I think we posted at the same time...stay out of my space.

ROTFLMAO stepping away now LOL

Why do I not believe you ;) A son and a step son in the landscaping business and you labor intensively yourself with a little bit of assistance from your husband... I knew it! Not too many people sleeping on wads of cash currency these days!

I did not know cancer had been to your home, I am truly sorry for all of you. Multiple myeloma is serious and if you're gonna make it through it... it takes the whole family. This speaks volume for your family. This I now know. Remission as a result of the technical advances they have made in stem cell transplant treatments utilizing vaccines is this side of remarkable. I wish more than ever for your son that he can keep his chin up so he can rebuild that which was stolen from him and continue moving forward with his life. Regarding the partner, no need to know his phone number in my humble opinion... what goes around comes around so say a prayer for that piece of human refuse right about now for having been so opportunistically evil.

Now to clear up a little confusion. If Mags is your daughter, which one is Anne? Levilyla! How many kids do you have running around in these forums!

Anne is (Magoobu) (aka. Mags) on DG. I have then Todd (Multiple Myeloma) and David (my oldest..43) only Anne is on DG. Levilyla is Nancy.! Now there you have it. Not sleeping on any wads of anything (God I hope). check out www.toddewellexteriors.com This WAS his company.

she only has one running around here that is me Mags/Anne LOL


I will try the link for Mom....
http://www.ivanhoe.com/science/story/2006/03/116a.html

This message was edited Mar 17, 2006 7:58 PM

another link to my brother's recovery!! wonderful news for our family

and Equil thanks for all the sweet words

Levilyla has 3 kids myself/ my brother David and this one in the video my brother Todd

both amazing men in their own way!!!

3 grandchildren as well.

here is the second link

http://wjz.com/video/?id=14559@wjz.dayport.com

I know your first name is Nancy but I refrain from using it as I've never seen you share it before in a thread.

The videos are nothing but inspiration. Gives me goosebumps. I'm so happy for all of you!

Well....it didn't work. Why is SP always right? The flower buds drooped down and the water smelled terrible..I just emptied the whole thing in the mulch pile and am now starting over with a new batch~~~I am hoping wating until it was farther along would help. If this doesn't work I will not try again.

Ummm, the reddish pink ones on the bottom are Tulipa.

I'll only take the blame when it turns out right. If my engineering training days come blearily back....you need to run a control group and an experimental group. One is in your photo; the other in your shower. If one works, you know what regimen to apply next time (since with viburnums, one never gives up, does one?). If neither works, then you can throw my ideas out and try something completely different.

AND, if I manage to mess my knee up again today (while digging my dozen 6' Chesapeakes), maybe I'll run some practice batches of viburnum varieties here at the Valley.

Okay...this is the third batch..I threw away the second because of similar reasons and I cut these today in full bloom. the only way to do it and I will NEVER try and force Viburnum again.

Not that anyone cares at this point...however...posting of a picture the day AFTER the third batch and now I am saying I will not even cut branches when they are in full bloom. This is what it looked like for my Easter dinner.!!!!!!

sorry~~~~ posted the one before the "drop"

It's still a nice vase.