Garden

[JustJazzmom]

It might still be early for forsythias to bloom in your area Stella.

Usually the forsythias are pruned back right after they finish flowering if you want to control their height and width and its done before they set the buds for the upcoming year. If you wait till summer or early fall to prune the forsythia, the plant will have many of its buds for next year removed.

[terrier3]

You have to cut back forsythia immediately after it flowers in the spring...if you wait until the summer or fall, you will be cutting off the next year's flowers.....like lilacs.

[Nonametoday]

Forsythia are among the first things to bloom, to include flowering Quince. When you see the bright golden posies (forsythia), take out your secateurs and prune your roses. This is a warning that roses can bloom within 6-8 weeks, so get busy pruning.

[muttmom]

I had no idea the blooming season began so early in Seattle.

My neighbor always prunes her forsythia in the fall and wonders why it never blooms. I told her not to and even printed articles, yet she swears that's what her mother did.

[JustJazzmom]

On 3/20/2015 muttmom said:

I had no idea the blooming season began so early in Seattle.

My neighbor always prunes her forsythia in the fall and wonders why it never blooms. I told her not to and even printed articles, yet she swears that's what her mother did.

It's hard to change bad habits. I ran into this with my Dad when it came to caring for roses-- he cut in the fall and again in the spring; even though I told him to cut once in the spring-- why create more work for yourself? Unless the roses were tall and not tied down, then they didn't need to be cut back in the fall.

[Carmie]

Do what I do. I just cut some branches off before they bloom. Bring them indoors and put in a vase with water. The blooms will open up inside your home. (you do need to have closed buds on the branches)

I do this every year because I can't wait for spring.

A funny side note: One year when I was a child we did this on the Saturday before Easter. There was a funny papery thing attached to one branch, but we ignored it. On Easter morning, we had the whole kitchen full of baby praying mantises. The papery thing was an egg case and they hatched overnight in the warm house.

My sister was so angry because a bunch of them crawled into her covered cake pan and were in her coconut cake. We still laugh about it today.

Now, I am careful to check my branches first before I bring them in.

[JustJazzmom]

Bwahaha!! Sorry but it is laughable after many years-- they look like brown styrofoam squares.

I could tell you a story about another set of baby insects, but I won't because people are probably having dinner somewhere.

[luvmyteddy4]

I was outside a couple of days ago and nothing. Today I have yellow flowers blooming on mine. It finally rained for two days and now it is sunny and 68 degrees.

Midwest

I dug mine up from across the street two years ago and it is doing great. My neighbor didn't want them anymore so I grabbed them and planted in my backyard.

[qualitygal]

It's usually what I see along with the budding trees in the backyard. No Forsythia's yet here.

[millieshops]

Just chiming in to say that as a long-time snowbird, one of the things I miss about being south for the winter is the way spring and summer brings the north alive. I'm actually thinking of going back one April to see spring come to Long Island. I miss those forsythia, the tulips and daffodils, and all the flowering trees and shrubs.