A while ago, A Woman Keen On Sensible Footwear (a.k.a. Wellywoman) commented on one of my recent posts that she wasn’t aware that forsythias would root in water.
Well, the proof’s in the rooting, as they say:
Granted, it does take some time, which is why this lovely vase is grimed over with lime scale, but it’s a perfectly easy way to propagate this bush, either to create more of it or to create new undergrowth if it is beginning to get too top-heavy and tumble over.
I generally find that most branches will root in water, given enough time, and the trick with the forsythia is just to let it bloom away, drop its flowers and then wait for the leaves to appear. Once you have leaves on your branches, the roots will be there in very little time, with no need for rooting hormones, special treatment or anything.
In the vase above – as in all my vases of forsythia – I have mixed the forsythia branches with red dogwood. The red stems create a nice counterpoint to the brash yellow flowers, and once the flowers are gone the dogwood – in this case a rather pleasantly variegated cultivar (ooh, look at me throwing proper gardening words about; “variegated”, “cultivar”!!!) – will start showing leaves sooner than the forsythia. And of course the dogwood have as lovely flowers, even if less attention-seeking, as the forsythia. And the dogwood, too, roots before long.
Considering that I’m trying to replace an ugly wooden fence with a hedgerow of living plants, I think this sort of propagation is about as easy a solution as you can get! I could, of course, also just start pinning down overhanging branches, leaving them for a year and then cutting them loose and transplant them, but this is so much quicker and also adds to my connection to the garden. I have it right here with me in the apartment!
The pot at the back of the picture above is the sedum flowers I brought in as a bouquet last autumn and decided to keep, since they started rooting.
So far it seems that my success with cuttings is a one-all; I have had no success with rose cuttings, in spite of taking numerous the year before last, but I’ve had great success with flowers that were just picked to be pretty in the apartment and then decided they wanted to live!
What an easy way to root something! Thanks for the info. I have neither dogwood nor forsythia in my garden – but I might soon, if I can get a stem of one!
Forsythia branches can be bought in most florists in Northern Europe in spring… And otherwise most forsythia owners would be happy for somebody to take some cuttings off their hands, considering that they need to be pruned back severely to keep blooming profusely year after year.
Thanks for the mention. My Forsythia is just starting to flower so, if I remember, I’m going to cut a few stems tomorrow and put them in a vase. I haven’t always been a sensible footwear woman, I was once the proud owner of silver glittery 8cms heels. Ah those were the days when I spent my money on impractical outfits for my night club visits. 10 years later I don’t have much call for silver glittery shoes and I’d rather spend my money on plants but that’s not a bad thing. I don’t think I could even stand up in a pair of 8cms heels now let alone dance in them!!!
Personally I quite like the fact that I, too, have “slowed down” over the past years. I don’t mind spending my Friday evenings in a comfy armchair with a good novel, rather than cavorting about town. (Apart from anything, Saturdays are much nicer when you don’t have to waste too much time nursing a hangover!)
Great idea to get enough plants inexpensively to create a hedge row…love it!
When i plant them out I will cut them back quite a bit so the roots won’t have to support too much foliage, but that’s really all that needs doing; nature does it’s thing, and I just let it. By next year there will be loads of growth, I’m sure.
Soren, I’ve been wondering what the best way would be to propagate the forsythia in my Maine garden. It is huge and overgrown and will have to go when I put an addition on the house in the next couple of years. This seems like the perfect way to save some of it to be planted elsewhere after the remodeling is done. Thanks for the tip.
You could also just peg down an overhanging branch into a large pot and leave that next to the forsythia. That’s an even easier way to root them, I find, as long as there is 1-2 leafnodes covered with soil. I suspect this is a less stressful (for the plant) way to generate off-springs. Then when the build is about to start you can cut the branch from the bush and move the pot out of harm’s way.