Forsythia Magical Gold
* Common name: Forsythia Magical Gold
Magical Gold blooming in early spring.
Credit: Plants Nouveau
* Botanical name: Forsythia x intermedia ‘Kolgold’
* What it is: Forsythia has been a popular landscape shrub for decades for one main reason – its showy golden flowers that open in very early spring before most everything else is even producing leaves. After that, though, it becomes a somewhat gangly, plain-green shrub that often becomes overgrown.
Magical Gold is an improvement that turns this two-week wonder into a two-season bloomer, thanks to its ability to flower on both last season’s wood and this season’s.
The first bloom is by far the heaviest, covering the stems in exceptionally large golden flowers from as early as late March into mid-April. After a “rest” of a month or so, that season’s new growth then produces a second, lighter bloom toward the branch tips – usually in June or early July.
The combination of big flowers, compact habit, and reblooming ability is earning Magical Gold status as the new garden-center standard in forsythia varieties.
* Size: Grows four to five feet tall and wide, about a third less than most forsythias.
* Where to use: Flowers best in full sun but also does reasonably well in partly shaded spots. Tolerates poor soil, is drought-tough once established, and is hardly ever bothered by bugs, disease, or animal pests. Works well as a loose hedge, clustered on a sunny bank, or planted singularly as a specimen flowering shrub.
* Care: Pruning isn’t needed if plants have enough space and you’re OK with the somewhat loose, arching habit. Otherwise, maximize neatness and compactness by shearing immediately after the first bloom, although that will delay and possibly abort the rebloom. Fertilizer usually isn’t needed. Water once or twice a week in lieu of rain the first two years to establish the roots, then watering won’t be needed.
* Great partner: Pairs well with early-spring bulbs that bloom at the same time, such as white daffodils, purple hyacinths, and/or blue Siberian squill. Red-blooming summer to late-summer perennials will add color when Magical Gold is out of bloom, such as red daylilies, red coreopsis, or red mums.