It’s taken me a couple of years to really appreciate Forsythia in all seasons.
Yes, Forsythia is at its best in spring. Every morning through March, I sit with my coffee & ponder the coming growing season. As I’m peering out the kitchen window, my anticipation builds as the buds on the Forsythia show more & even more promise.
I’m energized by the sunny yellow blossoms in March & April.
Each year I feel so desperate to see any spring colour. Forsythia will never be challenged over its prominent real estate between our driveway & the kitchen entrance.
For all that hoopla, it’s easy to forget about Forsythia for the rest of the year. But that would be ignoring the assets.
In April & May, the yellow blooms give way to yellow-green leaves. Like the rest of the garden, the shrub begins to fill out, supplying much-appreciated privacy.
By June, Forsythia is a steadfast background green, and working hard to complement the new flowers in the garden parade throughout the entire length of the summer and into the fall.
When the brisk winds of October arrive, Forsythia again steps up for a more significant share of the garden interest. The yellow, apricot and red leaves add lovely colour to the fall palette.
For Halloween, they’re even more vibrant. No wonder Forsythia has become one of our garden mainstays!
By December, Forsythia is naked again. That’s not my favourite look for a shrub… but I understand that without the barrenness of winter, the spring probably wouldn’t be as exciting.
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10-2026 – (SVSeekins) More than 15 years after writing my ode to Forsythia, I must mention that my appreciation for this shrub has only increased. It is one tough do-er.
- Forsythia roots easily from whips & I’ve now got several more shrubs around the property.
- Forsythia even survives in fairly shallow, dry soils. Here on the tip of Vancouver Island, with wet winters & very dry summers, forsythia is still happy in a shallow bed at the top of our rocky outcrop. That means the winter wet runs quickly away & in the summers it still survives the heat– even when I only drag the hose around every couple of weeks.
- Forsythia certainly prefers full sun, but it will try hard to be of value even when other trees hog much of the light.
- Forsythia comes in several cultivars, so you can find a shorter variety if preferred. There’s one Forsythia down the street from our garden that blooms 3 weeks earlier than ours. It also shifts into fall colours at least 3 weeks earlier, too. AND that autumn colour is a much deeper red (almost purple). Perhaps these differences are due to the more exposed siting? Or maybe it is a different cultivar?
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Other indispensables:
Except for a couple of trees, it still looks like summer at your place!
There has been a good deal of effort put into having some interest in the garden throughout all the seasons, but by mid to late November, it usually looks pretty barren. It’s nice that the warm fall has slowed down some of the decay…. Gotta love the west coast! 🙂
i like it good work
have you ever had your forsythia bloom twice? We live in Ottawa Ontario and this past fall the shrub bloomed again. It was after a cold snap early in October when the leaves were burgundy and apricot in colour. The blooms opened up first on these branches and by mid Nov when all leaves had changed colour the buds opened up on those branches also. I guess it won’t be having spring flowers in April!
Wow, Pam – that’s so odd! I haven’t seen Forsythia do that.
Was it just sparse blooms? Or the full bloom like we get in the spring? It’s a pity if it means there won’t be blooms in the spring.
The oddest thing I saw this year was lavender with a second flush of blooms in late summer. Crazy!