A few of our forsythia bushes continue to be robust for early May, but all of their little yellow flower heads soon will be decapitated by natural forces. This may be your last chance to view some of our more fulsomely flowered forsythias.
The plants were named after the 18th Century Scottish botanist William Forsyth. They’re part of the olive family and are native to east Asia and southeastern Europe, but they’ve been popular in Great Britain and the United States for centuries. Victorian gardeners considered forsythias to be symbols of anticipation, perhaps because their blooms are among the first flowers of spring.
Those flowers, by the way, are edible and can be made into teas, syrups, and a traditional Chinese medicine to treat the common cold.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 5, 6 [landscapes] and 8 [closeup], 2022.)