Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Like a Good Deed in a Naughty World


We've had a series of chilly gray days but the forsythia shines out like a good deed in a naughty world -- made an even brighter yellow by the dull backgrounds.

When we first built our house, my sister-in-law ay gave us a forsythia bush which we planted in the front yard and I planted three more -- little more than sticks, along our driveway near the house.

All of them have thriven and from them, I have rooted many more and spread the golden wealth around -- by the Lutyens bench . . .  on the slope by the back gate. . . 

 Across the road near the little log tool shed . . . along the edge of the front yard . . .
 But wait! There're more -- rooted last year (or maybe the year before) ready to righten yet another corner of the farm.  

It's like Rumpelstiltskin  spinning gold from straw,  You poke some sticks in dirt, keep them watered,  wait a year, and voila -- free gold!




19 comments:

Ms. A said...

I swear they look like they produce their own light source. They are beautiful!

katy gilmore said...

Storming here tonight - so these look so cheerful and lovely. Do you have deer Vicki? (I feel like I should know this.) Here the deer eat forsythia, along with a lot else, but I love to see yours.

Pat in east TN said...

I have also rooted several forsythia around our property over the years and can now see them from every window of the house. They always make me happy, especially on gloomy days.

Pat in east TN said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pat in east TN said...

I have also rooted several forsythia around our property over the years and can now see them from every window of the house. They always make me happy, especially on gloomy days.

Brian Miller said...

ha. somethings are resilient like that...pretty cool how it has come back to life......and a beautiful touch of color too...

Vicki Lane said...

We do have deer though in the past they haven't bothered stuff near the house. This winter, however, a lot of rhododendrons got nibbled away. We used to have dogs that stayed out much of the night and that was a deterrent but now we worry that the coyotes might get the dogs (not that the current crop of dogs wants to give up their warm beds.) Maybe the coyotes will deal with the deer...

Wayfarin' Stranger said...

Everywhere we have lived we have had similar success in growing Forsythia, except for here. Here, every attempt has failed, from sprouting sticks to transplanting up-to-then thriving plants. We've had similar results with dogwoods, redbuds, and sarvis. I think we may need an exorcism on the land.

Lise said...

They are quite cheery in contrast to the still stark trees; love the title of this post. Thanks to your guidance, my forsythia cuttings are beginning to root:)

Jime said...

Creating your own sunshine where there is non. It's magic.

Darla said...

"Free gold" - yes! LOL Love how you've planted them all around your property. I recall how eagerly I waited to see those golden blossoms in Maine. Ahhh...

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks to you I have started spinning gold here.

Carol Crump Bryner said...

Here in Alaska we don't have deer but we don't really have forsythia either - at least not in the "free gold" way you do. I love your cheerful pots of new gold. I miss that spring hit of bright yellow.

Frances said...

Vicki, I love your forsythia Rumpelstiltskin connection and also the idea that forsythia's spring arrival is a good deed. We are still on the look out for this welcome arrival. So far I just seen a few tentative blooms.

How wonderful it must be to have the skill to spin the forsythia stem into springtime blooming gold.

xo

Vagabonde said...

I did not know you could propagate forsythia so easily. Can you plant them in the shade though? As we have hardly any sun in our yard – mostly pine trees.

GPearson said...

Lovely!

Thérèse said...

Free gold is always the best find and much easier to get than looking for the pot of gold at the end of the runbow.

Kath said...

Forsythia just make me smile.
Do you just take cuttings and let them root in water, then pot in soil?
We have no forsythia on our property, and we definitely need them!

Vicki Lane said...

Kath -- I have rooted them in water and I have rooted them in a pot of good dirt -- kept wet.

Vagabonde -- they probably need sun to put on good blooms.