Variegated forsythia in the fall
I鈥檝e never before gardened anywhere cold enough for forsythia. (Can you tell I devote far too much time trying to dream up advantages to this nasty climate?)
My Iowa-gal wife has regaled me with stories about growing up with them, her dad鈥檚聽 love of them, harbingers of spring etc., and any interest she has in horticulture I try to foster. So I knew I our weedy little acreage would have some forsythias in its future.
But 鈥�
Most of the year these shrubs really look kind of rangy 鈥� humdrum bordering on ratty. And in the spring, those klieg-light yellow flowers look 鈥� depending on my mood at the time 鈥� either perky or alarmingly strident.
Then I discovered variegated forsythias. Like almost every other variegated plant, they are a good thing. These cultivars are somewhat shy springtime bloomers, so their flowers don鈥檛 get all in-your-face garish.
Then 鈥� Blackie鈥檚 4F Garden Dictum: Flowers fade but .
The bushes hold your interest all growing season, with variegations ranging from subtle to intense. One variety 鈥� (see photo at right) 鈥� has splashes of yellow so enthusiastic that the tips of some branches have leaves completely awash in it.
The stripes in Fiesta foliage (see Photo No. 2 above) almost glow.
And the more-mottled-than-striped Variegata聽 at this very moment seems to be seasonally confused; half of the foliage has already turned its fall color and, springlike, it is actually blooming. Again!
But my favorite is (Forsythia viridissima koreana) 鈥� see Photo No. 1 above 鈥� which has veining reminiscent of a cathedral鈥檚 stained-glass window.
That these plants hold their leaves even after the first killing frosts and hard freezes also makes them near and dear to my heart. We had a record-early snow (Two inches! On Oct. 10!), and their foliage is still looking fresh. Most of the maple trees hereabouts don鈥檛 even have leaves, and these guys are still performing.
Next post: A closer look at a fall Fiesta of color.
What else I鈥檓 into this week: , horticultural wordplay run amok.
Craig Summers Black is an award-winning writer, editor, and photographer who gardens feverishly on a weedy acreage in the Midwestern heartland. He has found that it can be more than a tad colder in Iowa than at his previous gardens in California, Hawaii, Texas, and Florida.
Editor鈥檚 note: Look for more blog posts by The Transplanted Gardener, Craig Summers Black, at our . The Monitor鈥檚 main gardening page offers articles on many gardening topics. See also our . You may want to visit . Take part in and get answers to your gardening questions. If you join the group (it鈥檚 free), you can upload your garden photos and enter our next contest.
