Fabulous Forsythia?

I agreed to make the forsythia flower arrangements in this month’s magazine because “I have forsythia.”  At least, that’s what I thought in February when Ali and I were planning for completing the March issue tasks.  Lo and behold, March arrived and my crop of forsythia looked like this:

Well, certainly the four viable branches from this specimen were not going to make an attractive arrangement, so what’s a girl to do?  Buy some?  No.  “Borrow” some from the side of the road near the metro tracks?  Yes!

My mom schooled me in her view, and now mine, of the proper way to trim forsythia, so that beautiful, long, tender shoots gracefully flow outward, like this:

Photo credit: by Arielle



Of course, forsythia one finds on the side of the road is not the most well groomed, so my cuttings were not great.  But, I gathered a bunch of the best I could find, snuck back to my car without being spotted, and headed home to start arranging.

My mom has also taught me disdain of forsythia trimmed into box-like hedges.  It’s just wrong.  A hedge needs to be full and bushy, not full of holes. 

See what I mean?
Photo credit: dancingwithdaisy.blogspot.com

 So, I was surprised to see some of Martha’s arrangements mimic a hedge.  They at least looked better than the real hedges, but still, not a fan.  No surprise, I didn’t make one of those.  I tried two others, one simple forsythia, the other mixed with daffodils. 

 

Pretty, but not really worth turning to a life of crime.

Jacqui