The photo with this week’s garden column features one of my favorite spring perennials – Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis). I love how they spread freely around my yard each year, and their bright, true-blue blossoms never disappoint.
I can’t say the same for my forsythia. Only one of the five shrubs I have in my landscape bloomed at all this spring, and that was on the bottom branches, which sit at ground level.
I noticed the same was true for my neighbor’s forsythia, and in my travels around the area, the only spot I saw the golden shrubs blooming well was near the Lake Ontario shoreline.
As I researched reasons for why forsythia fail to bloom, I was able to cross some causes off my list, the first of which is pruning too late in the season, after flower buds have set. If you cut back your shrub in late summer or fall, you are removing next year’s buds. I never prune forsythia late in the season.
Another reason was lack of sun. Forsythia needs full sun – 6-8 hours a day – to bloom well. All of my shrubs are in full sun, no trees or other plants have grown up over the years to block out their sunlight.
I also wondered if birds snack on the flower buds, as my shrubs are always a popular spot for sparrows in the winter, and I swear I see them eating buds.
My research showed that this is a possibility, but shouldn’t have much of an effect on bloom.
I decided the problem was due to our somewhat erratic weather this past winter, coupled with my failure to prune out older canes (branches) to the ground as a way to rejuvenate forsythia shrubs.
Last December, I noticed blooms on forsythia shrubs around the area – not a major bloom – but there were flowers. I think our mild winter brought the flower buds along on the plants and then, when we had sporadic cold spells (there were times of bitter cold), the flower buds were killed. One on-line source I read noted that although your forsythia shrub may be hardy to a particular Zone – the flower buds may not be as hardy.
Since so many shrubs I’ve noticed failed to bloom this year, I believe this might be the reason.
However, I do plan to do some heavy pruning of my shrubs this spring, now that the leaves are coming out. Cornell Cooperative Extension advises to cut one-third to one-half of the older canes back to the soil line. This will cause the shrub to send out fast growing new canes, which will bloom next year.
Lastly, refrain from pruning your forsythia into a box or ball shape – shoot for a plant that looks like a living fountain – that will also aid in flowering, as you will be encouraging new cane growth.
