never heard of a spring flowering forsythia holding its flowers thru may.. let alone thru winter ...

are you sure on the ID???

ken

I don't know if there are different 'types' of forsythia but ...it's definitely a forsythia. At least, that's what I ordered, and that's how it was labelled when I got it, and that's what it looks like. ;-)

I don't know if there are different 'types' of forsythia but ...it's definitely a forsythia. At least, that's what I ordered, and that's how it was labelled when I got it, and that's what it looks like. ;-)

It sounds like your forsythia is done blooming for the year since it is putting out leaves. Yours may have been confused by the fall planting or the change in climate from where ever it was grown, or the fact that the pots warms up earlier than the ground may mean that it will always bloom earlier than ones in the ground. Typically they bloom in early spring, but it sounds like yours bloomed very, very early, starting in late fall and holding flowers over the winter. Forsythia only bloom once each year (though I have read that there is a new variety that blooms in the fall and spring) and once they start putting out leaves bloom is done for the year. In the future if you need to prune it, now (right after bloom) is the best time since it will begin to develop flower buds for next year's flowers in the coming weeks and pruning later would remove them.

oh no....what a pity....so when forsythias first flower, it is flowers only that appear....no leaves? And then the leaves come later once the flower bloom is done?

I just found my notes on my forsythia....i actually got it in the mail in November! And when I got it, it still had some green leaves on it AND some yellow flowers (though it was not FULL of flower, but did have SOME).

I'm not sure what you mean by 'IF you need to prune your shrub, now is the best time to do it'. How would I know IF I need to prune it? Are you saying there's no rule that you HAVE to cut back forsythia each year after flowering?

I'd prefer if I could, to leave the plant just as is. At least is has some lots of green growth on it which would obviously look nicer than short cut-back stems... ;-)

Thanks!

OK so I just called the nursery from which I bought the plant and I think I understand it now. Here's a synopsis so you guys can tell me if it makes sense...I think I got it right. ;-)

I should insulate the pot itself over the winter using burlap filled with leaves, bubble wrap etc. This helps the pot to keep the cold temps inside the pot so that when it DOES start to warm up in Spring, the pot does so more gradually. Without the pot being insulated, the roots and soil inside it will go from cold to warm more rapidly, and might confuse the plant (roots) about when itâÂÂs time to flower. If it warms up too fast It might think itâÂÂs actually DONE flowering and instead of producing flowers, will go straight to producing green leaves (green leaves which, are only produced after flowering has finished).

There is no must-do schedule for pruning or training forsythia as there might be for other plants. You can leave it as is every year and not do any pruning, or if a particular branch seems to be getting leggy or whatever, you can certainly cut it back (though it's best to try and do so immediately after flowering has finished, and before the plant start to develop flower buds for next year's flowers....)

Like most plants, you CAN and should cut back any particular stems where there is no growth at all and the stem is likely deadâ¦.