Botanical name (genus):Forsythia
Family:Oleaceae (idem privet, olive tree…)
Main species:europea, suspensa, ovata, japonica, koreana, X intermedia…
It must be admitted that the species are often not well specified, and frequently forgotten on the labels at the points of sale. However, what must be remembered is that each species has different characteristics, especially of port. These criteria must therefore be taken into account when designing a garden. The port can be erect or partially drooping, and the height very variable from one species to another, between 0.50m and more than 4m.
Forsythia is somewhat forgotten at the bottom of the garden. You only notice it when it blooms in spring, one of the first in the garden, on leafless wood, a flashy yellow that announces sunny days. Then nothing! Green foliage without shine but which reminds us of autumn. Before falling, the leaves turn a remarkable orange. Then appears a shiny brown bare wood covered with lenticels, small growths of cork.
The Forsythia is content with little, hence my name "forgotten in the garden":normal soil, sun or partial shade, very hardy in the cold, from time to time the foliage nibbled by vine weevil like all the representatives of its botanical family. Forsythia adapts too well to a lack of size, which is why it no longer shines after a few years. All the same ! And what about Forsythia pruned into a ball still too often in condominium spaces...
Pruning is done just after flowering. It consists of removing a third of the old branches, especially located in the center of the shrub. However, consider shortening the branches that have flowered by two-thirds.
By observing the branches, we see new shoots, so the cut is made just after one or more new starts. Because it is these new branches that will bear the flowers next year.
By following http://this link you will have the examples NOT TO BE FOLLOWED…
There are dwarf varieties or ground cover for rockeries and embankments, or pot culture. 'Golden Tide' and 'Dwarf Prostrata' are dazzling. However, ‘Boucle d’or’ and ‘Mélée d’or’ are varieties that can reach 1 m in height.
Forsythia koreana 'Kumsun' has interesting foliage, the leaves have silver veins.
