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Forsythia flowerless

diggingdorisdiggingdoris Posts: 512
in Problem solving

Why have I not had a single flower on either of my forsythia bushes this year. They both had their usual prune after blooming well last year. Could it be the birds eating the buds?

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,269

    How soon after flowering did you prune? Did they make plenty of growth after pruning?  They flower on wood formed the previous year.

    I have known birds take the buds, but not all of them ................ image

    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,144

    There's no sign of buds yet on mine either, but I'm sure there will be later on. Maybe give it a bit longer, unless, as Dove says, you pruned it a bit late? 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • arneilarneil Northern Ireland Posts: 275

    I had no blossom on mine last year and gave it a good haircut , it is covered at the moment

  • PeggyTXPeggyTX Posts: 556

    I was just reading this morning an article on the net about pruning Forsythia and they said although most people prune them AFTER blooming, they felt it was better to prune them in the Winter or early Spring BEFORE blooming.  Some useful and logical tips for pruning them.   As I'm planning on trying this shrub out and have some on order (My mother successfully grew them in north Texas), I kept the article for future reference.  Here's a link to it to have a look see:  file:///C:/Users/Peggy/Desktop/How%20to%20prune%20forsythia.htm

    My low-carb recipe site: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/
  • diggingdorisdiggingdoris Posts: 512

    I'll give it a good haircut in a few weeks in case some flowers appear . Thank you all.

  • diggingdorisdiggingdoris Posts: 512
    I can't believe it! From last years post you can see my concern, but this year the Forsythia is smothered with flowers and buds. It's almost as if it needed a rest for a year. This hasn't happened before, and I've had the bush for about 10 years.
  • plant pauperplant pauper Posts: 6,234
    Hurrah! Good news DD.  :) Thanks for letting us know.
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