Tuesday, May 17, 2016

not enough forsythia

Last month our forsythia only bloomed on a small patch on the end of a row - and we have lots of it! It looked pitiful but I knew that our late-summer pruning was most likely cutting off the new growth, which is where the spring blossoms appear. It looked so pathetic that this year I am determined to mend my ways; last week I started early pruning - I want to get into some better habits.


What do you know, but today a lovely woman who volunteers at the library once a week mentioned how the forsythia didn't bloom this year. Anywhere in our area! So I asked Kathy if she has forsythia. Yes, and hers only bloomed on one stalk. Then Linda came in and said the same.

So it wasn't our fault, after all.  But don't waste any sympathy on us; if you're going to feel sorry, make it for a really good reason.

Feel sorry that the entire peach crop has failed in this state for the year. Now, that is a tragedy.

5 comments:

  1. Can you imagine being a farmer or orchard-owner. My goodness, the gambles every season.

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  2. How terrible to lose your whole crop! I am so sorry for those farmers.

    When my parents moved to the house my mother still lives in, there was a large shrub they didn't recognise. After two years they still weren't sure what it was as it hadn't flowered. They asked a gardener friend of theirs if he knew, as they were considering getting rid of it as it was a bit boring. He identified it as forsythia and said it hadn't flowered because the bullfinches were eating all the flower buds. Mum and Dad began putting extra feed out for the birds, the bullfinches eat seed now and the forsythia blooms every spring.

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    Replies
    1. Clare, I'm beginning to see that you have birds over there which cause a lot of trouble! :D That is very interesting. But I'm afraid it's been the weather that caused all this. Winter temps were milder, which is not unheard of here, but I guess the cold spells which came later caused a shock to some of the plant life.

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    2. Our spring has been colder than the winter too - very strange!

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