Weeping Forsythia
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

Average mature size of 6-10' tall and 10-15' wide. Upright, arching, almost fountain-like form with slender, long, trailing, pendulous branches. A graceful grower, which may be trained either upwards (on a wall or structure) or downwards (free-flowing). Fast growth rate.

Native Range

Native to Asia, especially in China.

Flower and Fruit Details

Flowers are perfect, scentless, 4-petaled, bright, golden yellow, 1-1.25" across, March-April, single or in groups of 2 or 3 together. Fewer flowers than Border Forsythia. Blooms before the leaves emerge. One of the first shrubs to bloom in the spring. Fruit is a 2-celled, dehiscent, brown capsule, 1/3" long, with many tiny seeds inside. Not showy.

Leaf and Bark Features

Deciduous: Leaves are opposite, simple, usually sharply toothed, with many marginal teeth, ovate or oblong-ovate, or sometimes tri-foliate or 3-parted, about 2-4" long and 1-2" wide, acute at the tip, with a 1/2" petiole. No appreciable fall color. Stems are rounded, yellowish-brown, with many prominent lenticels, and possess a pith that is hollow in the internodes, but solid at the nodes.

Culture and Care

Zones 5-8. Needs full sun to part shade. Tolerates clay soil, juglone in soils (from nearby black walnut trees), and deer. Adapts to a wide range of soils. Prune soon after flowers fade and drop. Won't tolerate wet, poorly-drained sites. No serious insect or disease problems. Some fungal leaf spot and bacterial crown gall.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

3-season interest: Spring, summer, & fall. Flower buds may be killed at -15 to -20 degrees F, although such temperatures do not damage the stems or leaf buds. After a severe winter, flowering may only occur below the snow line, where the snow insulated the flower buds from the extreme cold. This is one of the parents of the popular Border Forsythia. Since it contains the lignan, Pinoresinol, this plant is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The weeping branches may root and spread to form a colony

Suggested Uses

Group in borders for spring show. Mass on banks or slopes. Branches can be trained upwards like a vine, 20' high, on a wall or suitable structure, or grown over a stream bank or any elevated surface as a weeping plant. Also used as an informal hedge.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA