Add spring color to your yard
By Randy Nelson
Spring flowers are always a welcome sight after winter. When it comes to ornamental shrubs, forsythia and double flowering plum are two of the earliest to flower.
Most springs, forsythia produce yellow flowers (Fig. 1) which cover the whole plant (Fig. 2). One of the biggest drawbacks to forsythia is flower bud hardiness. Although no forsythia can be guaranteed to bloom abundantly every spring in our area, there are three hybrid cultivars with good flower bud hardiness, ‘Meadowlark,’ ‘Northern Sun,’ and ‘Northern Gold.’ Flower bud hardiness down to -35 ºF has been reported for ‘Meadowlark’ while ‘Northern Gold’ and ‘Northern Sun’ are reported to have flower bud hardiness down to -30 ºF. All three cultivars generally grow eight to ten feet high and six to eight feet wide.
Double flowering plum produces fully double pink flowers (Fig. 3) which cover the plant (Fig. 4). This shrub is hardy in our area and generally grows to a height of seven to nine feet. This shrub attracts a lot of attention when in full bloom.
Both forsythia and double flowering plum offer little in terms of landscape appeal after they are done flowering. An ideal location would be one where spring flowering can be enjoyed and the rest of the growing season the shrubs are hidden by more attractive plants.
If early spring color is needed in your landscape, consider planting forsythia and double flowering plum this growing season. If you have plant questions please contact me at the University of Minnesota Extension office, Clay County at 218
-299-7338, 1-800-299-5020 or nels1657@umn.edu.
