Lesson 9: Forsythia

Lesson 9: Forsythia
In this lesson, I discuss the edible and medicinal value of Forsythia. It is one of our first spring flowers, and a good medicine.
https://youtu.be/d2xBFcIaRVU

I did not realize how useful forsythia could be, thank you for this video!

Forsythia prunings make excellent 'airy' chip that decomposes readily. It also is easy to propagate if one of the branches bends over and touches the ground. I've had several volunteers this spring that I had to move around. I've found local songbirds appreciate the cover my forsythia hedge provides. When the petals fall from the bush, my chickens have readily gobbled them up as they stick out from the grass visually.

Only downfall in my zone (5b) has been late frosts taking out the flower blooms leading to a lackluster visual spectacle.

Timothy Norton wrote:I did not realize how useful forsythia could be, thank you for this video!

Forsythia prunings make excellent 'airy' chip that decomposes readily. It also is easy to propagate if one of the branches bends over and touches the ground. I've had several volunteers this spring that I had to move around. I've found local songbirds appreciate the cover my forsythia hedge provides.

Only downfall in my zone (5b) has been late frosts taking out the flower blooms leading to a lackluster visual spectacle.

They also make great ribs for baskets.  I have made several forsythia and ivy baskets.

Timothy Norton wrote:I did not realize how useful forsythia could be, thank you for this video!

Forsythia prunings make excellent 'airy' chip that decomposes readily. It also is easy to propagate if one of the branches bends over and touches the ground. I've had several volunteers this spring that I had to move around. I've found local songbirds appreciate the cover my forsythia hedge provides. When the petals fall from the bush, my chickens have readily gobbled them up as they stick out from the grass visually.

Only downfall in my zone (5b) has been late frosts taking out the flower blooms leading to a lackluster visual spectacle.

My stepmom's house is overrun with forsythia and we'll be thinning them out soon. I'm hoping to save some for a few weeks and transplant them somewhere else, when I can get to the new location. Do the young volunteers have deep roots? From your experience, do you think I can dig them up and maybe put a few of them (just the bottoms of them) in a plastic bag  with some dirt, keep them moist, and they'll keep for a few weeks like that? Sort of using bags as temporary pots? I did that with irises once, but it was clear I got plenty of bulb/tuber, and they like being partly out of the soil. They sat for a couple months before a friend came and got them, and although they looked pretty questionable they did grow back nicely for him.

Hi Kim,

I have, quite literally, grabbed a division at the base and pulled it out of the ground and had it recover by sticking it in some dirt. If it will spend some time unplanted, I would think having some soil around it would keep it for a couple weeks.

Kim Wills wrote:

Timothy Norton wrote:I did not realize how useful forsythia could be, thank you for this video!

Forsythia prunings make excellent 'airy' chip that decomposes readily. It also is easy to propagate if one of the branches bends over and touches the ground. I've had several volunteers this spring that I had to move around. I've found local songbirds appreciate the cover my forsythia hedge provides. When the petals fall from the bush, my chickens have readily gobbled them up as they stick out from the grass visually.

Only downfall in my zone (5b) has been late frosts taking out the flower blooms leading to a lackluster visual spectacle.

My stepmom's house is overrun with forsythia and we'll be thinning them out soon. I'm hoping to save some for a few weeks and transplant them somewhere else, when I can get to the new location. Do the young volunteers have deep roots? From your experience, do you think I can dig them up and maybe put a few of them (just the bottoms of them) in a plastic bag  with some dirt, keep them moist, and they'll keep for a few weeks like that? Sort of using bags as temporary pots? I did that with irises once, but it was clear I got plenty of bulb/tuber, and they like being partly out of the soil. They sat for a couple months before a friend came and got them, and although they looked pretty questionable they did grow back nicely for him.

They don't seem to root too deeply, but they also grow well from cuttings.  If you put them in some moist sand, even if the root gets cut, they should survive.  The bags will be find.