Southampton - Have we all had enough of snow yet? In the depths of February - especially in a winter like this one - it can seem like spring will never come. But we can distract ourselves by looking for the first signs of spring, and we can even make spring come early. Here's how:

Pansies that were planted last fall will start blooming way before daffodils. (flowerexpert.com)

Signs Of Spring
One sign of spring that you can't help noticing despite the cold is that the days are getting longer. On February 16 the sun rose (not that we could see it through all the clouds) around 6:48 a.m. and set around 5:32 p.m. Each day is about two and a half minutes longer than the day before.

It's a little too early to start looking for robins and other migrating birds to come back, though some of them stick around the Hamptons all winter. But when all the snow finally melts you can be on the lookout for some of the earliest blooming plants to start showing some color (and order some to plant in your garden for next year).

Here are some to look for:

 • Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae) is a hardy bulb that clusters of nodding blue flowers with white centers.

 • Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), another hardy bulb, bears white flowers with spring-green markings that dangle gracefully from their stems with their petals facing the ground.

 • Species crocuses - not the usual Dutch hybrids that are everywhere in April - these are smaller flowers and bloom earlier in the same range of colors - gold, white, and purple.

Wintersweet produces fragrant yellow blossoms. (theplantdirectory.com)

 • Small species narcissus such as February Gold and February Silver are among the earliest bloomers in the garden, with dainty flowers of golden yellow or white.

 • Pansies that were planted last fall will start blooming way before daffodils, and you won't have to be outdoors planting them in the cold.

 • Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) is a shrub with divinely fragrant creamy white flowers.

 • Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) bears sunny yellow flowers on long stems; grow it on a trellis against a wall.

 • Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a shrub that produces fragrant yellow blossoms.

 • Witch Hazel (Hamamelis species and hybrids) is one of the best of all. The bare branches of the shrubs are decked with ribbony flowers of bright yellow, deep orange, or red while the snow is still on the ground. A bonus: some of them are deliciously scented.

When we get closer to spring, you can also watch for the periwinkle (Vinca major), that's in many East End gardens to start producing its purple-blue flowers. Siberian squills (Scilla siberica) are small plants that send out sprays of true-blue, star-shaped flowers in very early spring.

How to Make Spring Come Early
Getting spring to arrive early is a dream for lots of East Enders, since some years it seems like spring will never get here. But you can get a taste of spring while winter is still upon us. How? Force some branches from flowering shrubs into bloom indoors.

You can also coax early flowers from Winter Honeysuckle. (plantanswers.com)

The best candidates for forcing are the plants that produce flowers first and leaves later on. Forsythia is an obvious choice, but you can also coax early flowers from winter honeysuckle, pussy willows, flowering quince, witch hazel, and cornelian cherry, among others.

 • Cut stems for forcing when the flower buds have begun to swell. You can tell flower buds from leaf buds because the flower buds are bigger. Do it on a day when the temperature is above freezing. Mid-day, when the stems are full of sap, is probably the best time to cut. Cut the branches with pruning shears or a sharp knife to make a clean cut. Cut slits in the bottoms of the stems or split them with a hammer and scrape off the outer bark to about three inches up from the bottom of the stem to enable the stems to soak up more water.

 • After cutting, immerse the branches - the whole stem, not just the bottom - in lukewarm water in a warm room for 24 hours. If you've got a bathtub you don't use everyday, that's a great place to do the soaking.

 • Next, place the ends of the stems in a container of cool water in a cool, dim place (a basement or attached garage is a good spot). After a few days, move the branches in their container of water to a brighter, warmer spot, but keep them out of direct sun. What you are trying to do during forcing is mimic spring - not summer - weather. If you have forced hot-air heat or a woodstove, and the air in your home is very dry, mist the branches or run a humidifier near them periodically to boost humidity levels. Change the water at least once a week, and add some cut flower food to the water if you like.

In a couple of weeks, spring should come early to your house!