Catalog Description
After a long winter, who doesn’t look forward to the bright cheery Forysthias heralding the arrival of spring? MagicalŪ Gold, an exclusive Monrovia introduction, has a stunning, bright gold color with large individual flowers the size of quarters. The plant has a great structure, with a strong, even, upright growth habit reaching four to five feet in height. Magical blooms from the base of the plant to the tip of the branches. Magical Gold looks fabulous in a cut flower arrangement, thanks to its uniformity of extra large blooms. It is frost hardy and easy to cultivate in well-drained fertile soil. Remove older shoots when blooming has finished to allow younger growth to arise from base. Moderate grower to 5 ft. tall, 4 ft. wide. Full sun. |
Design Ideas
Early color from forsythias deserves a well chosen place in the garden. This smaller variety is particularly well suited for the limited spaces of front yard foundation planting where it may achieve its natural character without shearing. Use at the back of the shrub border for spring brilliance when all else is leafless, then when green it will fade to a rich background for summer bloomers. Create a hedge of bright bold flowers to divide front yards or to line the edge of a driveway. Outstanding against white picket fences where color shows through the slats. Makes a big surprise in wild gardens when the color jumps out of a still dormant landscape. As suited to an informal cottage garden as it is a manicured estate landscape. |
Companion Plants
Forsythia belongs with other old fashioned deciduous flowering shrubs such as Eastern Snowball, (Viburnum opulus 'Sterile'), Sensation Lilac, (Syringa vulgaris 'Sensation'), Bridal Wreath Spiraea, (Spiraea x vanhouttei) and Collie Mullens Rose of Sharon, (Hibiscus syriacus 'Collie Mullens').
Round out the year with color in other seasons with Blue Light Clematis, (Clematis x 'Vanso'), Morning Calm Trumpet Creeper, (Campsis grandiflora 'Morning Calm') and for a stunning early spring show match with elegant Violacea Plena Japanese Wisteria, (Wisteria floribunda 'Violacea Plena').
| |
|
Average Landscape Size
Moderate grower to 5 ft. tall, 4 ft. wide. |
Key Plant Benefits
Extra large, rich golden-yellow flowers completely shroud the bare stems. Becomes the focal point of the landscape when in full bloom and blends well with other plants when the rich green foliage emerges after the flowers. Deciduous. |
Care Instructions
Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. For a formal appearance, shear annually after flowering. |
Growth Conditions
| Heat Zones |
 High:
| 9 (>120 to 150 days) |
| Low: | 1 (< 1 days) |
| Cold Hardiness |
| High: | 9 (20 to 30 F) (see map) |
| Low: | 5 (-20 to -10 F) |
| Water Requirements |
| Water regularly, when top 3 in. of soil is dry. |
| Sun Exposure |
| Full sun |
|
Flower or Bloom description:
| Flowering Time/Season |
 | Large golden yellow flower early spring. |
|
Propagation
|
Attributes
Cottage Garden Plant
Easy Care Plant
Flowers for Cutting
Prolific Flowering
Showy Flowers
Spring Flowering |
Foliage
|
Plant Lore
Forsythia has been used in Chinese medicine for aeons where it is listed among the 50 essential herbs. It is valued chiefly for its antiseptic effect used to treat wounds and boils. Like calendula of the west, forsythia flower petals also contain powerful bacteria fighting properties which make it an important dressing. |
Plant History
While Forysthias are native to eastern Asia, this stunning new variety was a recent chance discovery in Germany by a grower who specializes in breeding for the cut flower industry. Forsythia was named for William Forsyth an 18th century horticulturist to include plants discovered by two famous plant hunters, Karl Thunberg and Robert Fortune. F.x intermedia is the result of early crosses in the late 1800s of a Chinese F. suspensa and Japanese F. viridissima. |
New Plant
|