Forsythia Bush

The Spring blooming Forsythia Bush will put early color in the garden. You can force stems into bloom for even earlier color.Read on to learn about growing and pruning a Forsythia plant. This early blooming shrub shines like a beacon in your garden with bright yellow flowers. The Forsythia bush is a very hardy bush that doesn't seem to be fussy about soil conditions.

It does like full sun, and can grow like mad in a single season. It is a very easy shrub to transplant and propogate. Tall branches that reach the ground, will root where they fall if not trimmed. If you want some earlier blooms for inside, you can snip some branches, bring inside, and simply put them in a vase of water. They will soon reward your efforts with some sunny colored blooms.

In my area (zone 5) the flush of blooms on my Forsythias, signal that it is time for pruning rose bushes. I cut them back, and give them their first round of rose fertilizer.

Forsythia - New Hampshire Gold

The New Hampshire Gold Forsythia, Forsythia x 'New Hampshire Gold', was developed in New Hampshire, and is an excellent cold hardy selection. The best way to insure a good flower show is to plant this cold hardy cultivar, especially if you live in a particularly cold, windswept area. Its habit is drooping and mounded. 'New Hampshire Gold' is a deciduous shrub noted for its colorful yellow spring flowers appearing before the foliage. The foliage is a handsome maroon color. All it requires is a sunny area and well-drained soil. It's also a very easy plant to grow and transplants well. It is important to prune a forsythia after it blooms. Forsythia, like other early blooming shrubs, develop their flower buds during the summer and fall of the previous year. 'New Hampshire Gold''s height is a bit shorter than others.

Forsythia - Northern Sun

Northern Sun Forsythia, is a hardy Forsythia bush with huge, bright, spectacular yellow flowers in early spring before the foliage appears. This upright grower has medium green foliage on arching branches and is excellent as a border, screen or bank plant. It is specifically recommended for landscape use in northern areas where common Forsythias are not reliably hardy. Pruning is useful to keep the plant shorter and more compact. Northern Sun needs approximately one third of the older stems removed immediately following bloom to encourage the growth of new shoots from the base. The shrub is adaptable to a wide range of soils and has no serious pests or diseases. Plants should receive full sun to encourage more blossoms. It grows 8 to10 feet with a width of 7 to 9 feet.

Forsythia - Arnold Dwarf

This is an excellent dwarf groundcover type shrub. It flowers profusely in early spring before the leaves appear. The dark green summer foliage develops a bronze-green fall color. Arnold is a smaller size forsythia bush

Forsythia - Weeping

Forsythia suspensa var. sieboldii, is an early spring blooming shrub with bright yellow flowers on widely arching branches. Its yellow flowers appear before the leaves. It is an excellent plant to grow as a bank cover because of its upright, arching form. Weeping Forsythia has a clean, green summer foliage with a weeping growth habit. The best growing area is in full sun with any reasonable soil, and it tolerates city conditions. Weeping Forsythia transplants well and grows rapidly. This Forsythia is useful on banks because the branches root where they touch the ground. It is a deciduous shrub 8' to 10' tall and 10' to 15' wide

Forsythia - Meadowlark

The Forsythia 'Meadowlark'. Forsythia x 'Meadowlark' is noted for the cold-hardiness of its buds and its blooming ability in exposure to temperatures that are below-zero. Heavier flowering is encouraged if planted in full sun. This fast growing deciduous shrub produces bright yellow flowers. These soft yellow flowers line arching branches in April which creates a 10-foot waterfall of glowing color. A true harbinger of spring!

Forsythia - Fiesta

Fiesta Forsythia, is from New Zealand, and this plant really shines in the garden. The rich, green leaves with cream and gold centers light up the plant all season long. Golden yellow flowers cover the shrub in spring. Fiesta is easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade, but best flower production happens in full sun. It is an upright, mounded, deciduous shrub which typically grows 2-3' tall with a slightly larger spread. Fiesta is very tolerant of urban conditions. You can group them in borders. plant by foundations or mass them on banks or slopes. No serious insect or disease problems.

Pruning Forsythia

You should prune your Forsythia bush right after it has flowered. It forms the new buds for the following years flowers soon after, so if you waite to long, you will get few flowers next year. Cut out any older or dead canes.

Some people shape the bush like a hedge, and still get suitable flowers, I like to let mine grow with that lovely weeping effect.

Prune hard, because the Forsythia Bush grows incredibly fast! If you have an old bush that doesn't produce many flowers, or none at all, give it a really hard pruning. Watch for when other Forsythia bushes bloom in your area, and do it then.

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