Forsythia Finally Rooted..........

I tried all summer to start forsythia cuttings and they died each and every time. I finally got them to root about a month ago and potted them into individual pots and left them in the shade. Some of them look pretty good, some of them a little droopy, but they're all still alive! However we are nearing the freezing zone here. Should I go ahead and plant them? Will they have built a strong enough root system in that short a time to make it through the winter?

All advice truly appreciated,
La

Although I haven't done it with forsythia, I've had good luck with other perennial starts (cuttings or seedlings) by overwintering them in their pots in a sheltered location (against the south foundation wall, with mulch piled around the pots for extra insulation). If your cuttings haven't yet filled their pots with roots, I'd be tempted to do something like that... or maybe just plunge the pots into the ground in a sheltered garden spot... but not dump them out of their pots and plant them in the yard when they're still so young.

Then again, forsythia are pretty tough, so somebody else might advise you differently. :-)

Hi La---I'm in the same zone that you are and I successfully rooted forsythia by just doing what you did. Do keep them outside as critter suggested and put in a sheltered area and they should survive the winter just fine. Sometimes the more a plant is babied the faster it will die. Come spring it'll start leafing out and then plant in it's "permanent" spot.

Hi Jan,

I went ahead and planted them. I have WAY too much in this house that I'm attempting to over-winter and I finally made myself draw the line on a dozen baby shrubs. If they don't make it I'll just have to start over next year.

just put a limb on the ground and have something to hold it down so it will touch the ground and it will root dont cut from the mother plant
that has worked for me and i havent even tried mother nature did it for me good luck