Weeping Forsythia

This is a good plant in the right place, one that takes advantage of the weeping habit. It looks great weeping down from the top of a tal...Read Morel retaining wall or other elevation. The long slender stems can also be trained up a wall or over a pergola, but this can be a high maintenance application.

This species has longer internodes than the hybrids. This means fewer flowers per foot of stem. I don't think the reduction in flowering is very significant ornamentally, but some might disagree.

On level ground, the tips root and have to be removed annually. This adds to maintenance.

This Chinese species was once sold by nurseries in the Midwest and East back decades ago, but I don't know of it being sold recently at a...Read Morell. The outer branches droop to the ground and the twigs root into the ground. I had to at least once a year, prune back all the extensions that rooted into the ground from the one specimen planted close to a building on the hospital grounds where I worked. Otherwise, it would have invaded the lawn out of the border. It never bloomed really well. Does not have fall color. It is messy and of a poor habit. This species was crossed with the Greenstem Forsthia to produce the Border Forsythia, another Chinese species that has been the most commonly planted Forsythia of a few cultivars.

I had Forsythia in an area that was a bit shady, and though it was lush looking, it never bloomed. I moved it to an area with full sun a...Read Morend it started blooming. It is also in a moister area now, and it likes to root wherever it touches the ground.

It is nice for the early blooms, but does not provide much interest the rest of the year. If I did not already have it, I would choose something with year round (or at least 3 season) interest. Blooms mid to late April in my garden.

Prune immediately after flowering; flowers form on previous year's growth.