In the past 13 years my Forsythia has bloomed once. It was a happy couple of days..I think it had about a dozen little blooms.
Here it is in the yard..it is that dead looking thing.
The dead looking clump that is to the right and behind the oak with the Cardinal thermometer. The Daylilies are looking good..but that Forsythia just looks dead.
The last time I threatened to rip it from the ground it bloomed. One of my old Professors at NDSU is responsible for the selection of this Forsythia ‘Meadowlark’. I was thrilled to plant one in my yard.
I am less thrilled now.
This one is blooming in town in a parking lot.
It was planted in a berm, it’s roots covered with rock, right out in the full sun. Last Fall someone hacked the tops off of everything that was planted in that parking lot. This spring they are full of blooms.
No one hacked off the top of my Forsythia. Instead of rocks it had some leaves to help keep it’s roots from heaving during the winter.
Of all the shrubs out there in the woody plant world this yellow flowering beauty used to be number one on my list. The first shrub in our area to bloom in the spring! Oh..and the yellow flowers..liquid sunshine no matter what the spring weather throws your way. Oh I love me a Forsythia..just not the one in my yard:(
Oh what a shame! Here in GA, they are so hardy and such faithful bloomers in early Spring. We used to take cuttings and just stick them in the dirt and they would take.
ReplyDeleteCutting it back after it blooms may force it to produce better next year. If it doesn't work, you've lost little.
ReplyDeleteTry a start from a friend, the old fashioned ones are very hardy and do well in many climates.
Your header is beautiful.
It's the first to bloom here too, such a cheery colour!
ReplyDeleteThats a shame, all the Forsythias in our area are doing beautifuly I am getting one from my gardening centre soon. Some plants do well and some dont it depends on the plant itself . We have two Japenese maples one in the front and one in back both get the same sun and the one in the back isnt doing as well as the one in the front just one of those things I guess ! Hope you can save it and it comes back for you they are such pretty bushes when in bloom ! Have a Happey Easter weekend !
ReplyDeleteThe forsythia around here are all in full bloom. Very pretty. I think that one is definitely a goner... I also love your monochromatic header. Easter is almost upon us. :-)
ReplyDeleteAh, see, you should have cut it back :-). The way I understand it, they set the best blooms on new growth.
ReplyDeleteDon't ya hate that? See something beautiful growing where it is abused beyond belief, plant it in your yard - nada! I have to say the one I've seen around here (and only one) is in a rather protected spot between two buildings in town - but we won't see it blooming for quite a while yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about these yellow belles? I see beautiful ones all over, then come home and look at my puny-ne'er do well, and can't figure out what I am doing wrong. (big sigh)
ReplyDeleteI did a little research. Don't know if it will help. What I found was they need at least 6 hours of sunlight and bloom on year old canes.
ReplyDeleteThey say it may be too old, too, but I don't think yours looks too old.
If you had a late frost last year, that may be responsible, too.
You could move it or just get a new one.
Have a blessed weekend!
Far Side, what did you do to that forsythia?? Be sure not to cut back in the fall...you'll be cutting off the spring flowers...cut back in spring and summer and see what happens next year...does it get enough sun...poor little plant wants to bloom and can't...bummer...You could try sticking the top ends of the plant in the soil and let them grow new plants...
ReplyDeleteMaybe you just need to plant a parking lot next to it. ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. My husband moved my favorite lilac a few years ago and it has never been the same. I hate it when something doesn't bloom. I would get rid of it and plant something else. How long should you wait? Happy Easter to you all!!!
ReplyDeleteI went a couple years with just a few blooms on my and I read that if ya took a space and cut around the root a couple feet from it's widest point around the plant the sprinkle fertilizer in that cut it would bloom.
ReplyDeleteLast year I did the best I could goin' round my forsythia. I knew I wasn't strong enough to do what needed to but this year I got more blooms than I've seen in years. I'm gonna try it again after the blooms fade this year.
God luck sweetie and have a marvelous Easter weekend!!! :o)
Well you've just proved that for some plants they need a little stress to perform. I'm sure your professor tell you that.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty when they bloom, I see. Maybe you need to chop it back and see what happens? Will either wake it up or kill it. LOL! ;)
ReplyDeleteWe tend to think that plants and shrubs live forever -- but they don't. Buy another one and try again!!
ReplyDeleteLamentations, huh? Sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteOurs has barely flowered the last two years, and I was thinking the birds that roost there all winter had eaten the buds. That may be, but I'm going to try a bloom-encouraging fertilizer on it. I do cut ours back in early summer because it gets too big for its space.
ReplyDeleteHmmm....it was interesting reading all of the suggestions. I cracked up at Jacqi's idea of putting in a parking lot!
ReplyDeleteI do know from my Master Gardener classes that Forsythia are very susceptible to frost. One of my friends was commenting that her Forsythia bloomed for the second time in 18 years this year... and that's because we are having such a warm spring. Also, light is important. I had Forsythia in SC. We lived in a pine forest and we would see only one or two blossoms as my shrub got too little light. Good luck!
Wish I could send you the huge, monstrous, overgrown, nuisance Forsythia that obstructs the pathway into my backyard. It actually belongs to my lazy won't-do-any-yard-work neighbor, but I get the job of hacking its overgrowth out of my yard each spring. I have done everything short of whacking it to the ground to get it to wither, but it has nine hundred lives and keeps growing bigger. I'd gladly take your spindly little Forsythia:)
ReplyDeleteMy other favorite spring flowering bush is double-flowered almond. Liquid sunshine is right!
ReplyDeleteLinda
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Oh I do love Forsythia too! I planted one in Iowa and now have none here. I should get one as I miss it and I used to bring the blooms inside and enjoy them. That flowering almond sounds nice too. I'd try another "brand" if I were you and full sun too.
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