{"id":6256,"date":"2015-03-29T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T16:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=6256"},"modified":"2015-02-17T11:01:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-17T16:01:05","slug":"the-forsythia-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2015\/03\/29\/the-forsythia-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Forsythia Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Standard<\/a>

Standard size forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Forsythia<\/a>

Forsythia ‘Gold Tide’<\/p><\/div>\n

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In most areas of the U.S., the golden yellow blossoms of forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia<\/em>) signals that worst of winter weather\u00a0is almost over (USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8). Over 2-3 weeks bright yellow flowers cover this easy to grow shrub. Priced at under $20, a good-sized forsythia shrub is a bargain, often used to lure customers\u00a0into the door.<\/p>\n

Forsythias are small to medium-sized ornamental shrubs maturing between 4 to 10 feet tall by 5 to 12 feet wide depending on cultivar. It has an upright oval, open, growth habit with long arching growth habit. The shrub can easily take on a straggly appearance unless pruned every 1-2 years. Dwarf and semi-dwarf cultivars are\u00a0available; the most popular form is Gold Tide\u2122 at 3\u00a0to 4 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide.<\/p>\n

Other popular cultivars include:
\n\u2018Sunrise\u2019- compact 5 feet tall habit
\n\u2018Golden Nugget\u2019 – grows to 5 feet tall and wide
\n\u2019Spring Glory\u2019 \u2013 6 to 7 feet tall with pale yellow flowers and an upright habit.
\n‘Lynwood Gold’ \u2013 popular old fashioned cultivar with bright yellow blooms
\n‘Northern Sun’ – floral buds are hardy to -30\u00b0F.<\/p>\n

Forsythia is best grown in full to partial sunlight (minimum 6 hours\u00a0sun for best flowering). The shrub flowers less and branches grow tall and lanky in partial shade. It prefers moist, well-drained soils but adapts to poor soils, is not pH sensitive, and is very drought tolerant. It is rarely troubled by disease or pest troubles.<\/p>\n

Vigorous growing forsythias are best\u00a0pruned\u00a0within 2-3 months after spring flowering.\u00a0Most attention should be directed\u00a0to remove thick (oldest) wood;\u00a0this greatly will reduce the height of the shrub. Also remove weak\u00a0basal suckers less than pencil thickness. Flower buds are set in mid- to late-summer. Late summer pruning should be avoided.<\/p>\n

The 3 – 4 inch long medium green leaves turn an unexciting\u00a0off-green, yellow, and purple in autumn before abscising. The olive to yellow-brown wood is covered with raised lenticels. Floral buds are evident by early fall and a few often flower during warm autumn days.<\/p>\n

Forsythia is utilized as a\u00a0specimen shrub or en masse as a deciduous hedge or intermediate privacy screen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              In most areas of the U.S., the golden yellow blossoms of forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia) signals that worst of winter weather\u00a0is almost over (USDA hardiness zones 4 to 8). Over 2-3 weeks bright yellow flowers cover this easy to grow shrub. Priced at under $20, a good-sized forsythia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,772,398,747,674,806,1112,649,843,936,601,729,777,630,705,646,7,708,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6256"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7241,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6256\/revisions\/7241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}