Forsythia
Forsythia x intermedia · Oleaceae Popular
Arching branches covered in bright yellow flowers before the leaves in early spring: the signal that winter is over.
- Size
- 8 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around forsythia
The planner designed this bed around forsythia when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why forsythia stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Forsythia × 1, yellow
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 24, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 27, blue
- 4 Indian grass × 3, tan
- 5 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 6 White mugwort × 4, cream
- 7 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 8 Ohio spiderwort × 8, blue
- 9 Calamint × 3, white
- 10 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 23, blue
- 11 Daffodil × 5, orange
- 12 Grape hyacinth × 13, blue
- 13 Surprise lily × 7, pink
Why this plant
- A classic partner for daffodil and grape hyacinth. All are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only bells. The others are dense clusters, plumes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only yellow.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 8 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late March to mid April.
- Opens the season. For its first two weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 18 of the 20 groups (90%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (pink, blue and purple) and uses yellow and orange for warmth, with tan, cream and white to calm things between them. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 51% of the visual weight and the right half 49%.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where forsythia goes in a border
At 8 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
It is glorious for two weeks and plain for fifty. Give it room to arch naturally, at the back or on a bank, and never shear it into a ball. Prune out old stems right after flowering.
- Early spring colour
- Informal hedges and screens
- Branches for forcing indoors
What to plant with forsythia
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daffodil: in flower together for two weeks, from mid April; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Grape hyacinth: low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
- Siberian squill: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks; low enough (5 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about forsythia
Does forsythia need sun or shade?
Forsythia grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does forsythia grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does forsythia flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late March to mid April. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Late March to mid April |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late March to mid April |
| Zone 7 | Mid March to early April |
| Zone 8 | Early March to late March |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should forsythia be planted?
6½ ft (200 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 ft (250 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many forsythia plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6½ ft (200 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6½ ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is forsythia poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like forsythia?
Forsythia is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Flowering currant: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 20 in narrower, pink, not yellow.
- Common ninebark: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late May to late June, white, not yellow.
- Carolina allspice: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to late June, red, not yellow.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Will forsythia spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. The arching branches root where they touch the ground. Remove the rooted tips to keep it in bounds.
What flowers after forsythia?
Forsythia is over by mid April. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Daffodil: from mid April to early May, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Grape hyacinth: from mid April to early May, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Northern Lights azalea: from mid May to early June, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does forsythia look like in winter?
Forsythia drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Forsythia
- Forsythia 'Gold Tide' Forsythia 'Courtasol' (Gold Tide)
- Forsythia 'Lynwood' Forsythia x intermedia 'Lynwood'
- Forsythia 'Northern Gold' Forsythia 'Northern Gold'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 8 ft (250 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6½ ft (200 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April; hanging bells; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Arching, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Oleaceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.