April 22, 1998

If you haven't noticed the brilliant yellow color splashed all over the landscape this spring, you don't get out much. Forsythia bushes and hedges have burst into bloom everywhere. . Even many old plants are in full bloom. Like everything else, from bad hair to influenza, blame it on El Nino. The unusually mild winter was kind to forsythia flower buds and they have burst out in all their glory this spring. Even the dark cloudy days were brightened up by the vibrant golden blossoms of forsythias in hedges, parks, and yards.

The ancestors of our forsythias are natives to China and Korea and the garden forms were introduced in America in the early 1900's. Forsythias are valued by gardeners for their early spring flowers. The shrub generally will grow to about 8 feet high and 10 feet wide, although size will vary with variety and conditions. You often see it planted up close to a house but it is best used in a border or mass planting.

Forsythia has both upright and arching canes and is not the easiest shrub to keep looking good. The winter silhouette is not the most attractive, even if pruned correctly. Like nearly all early flowering shrubs, forsythias bloom on old wood, so they are best pruned right after flowering is over, using the renewal method. Plants that are sheared repeatedly throughout the summer or pruned late in the season will not flower to full potential.

The flower power of forsythia is very dependent upon winter conditions. Flower buds of old varieties are killed when temperatures drop a little below zero. Often you will see forsythias with flowers only below the snowline where the buds were protected from killing temperatures. Some of the new varieties available today have been bred to have more winter stamina. North Dakota State University introduced Forsythia 'Meadowlark' several years ago with flower buds cold hardy to 35 degrees below zero. It has good summer foliage color of dark green and often turns golden yellow in the fall.