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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