No surprise there, Face.

Both are weedy trash plants anyway.

You might want to replace them with more deserving plants that are better
behaved and more aesthetically pleasing.

BTW, how do you know when your plants have gone insane?


rosemarie face wrote in message
...
I'm in z5 and have two Forsythias and a Rose rugosa growing on the north
side of my house. They're growning like crazy.
Rosie z5 Indiana

In article ,
"Cereoid+10" wrote:

rosemarie face wrote in message
...
I'm in z5 and have two Forsythias and a Rose rugosa growing on the north
side of my house. They're growning like crazy.
Rosie z5 Indiana

No surprise there, Face.

Both are weedy trash plants anyway.

I like R. rugosa for the winter fruit & I have lately been considering it
as a low maintenance street plant on the low end of a hillside road.
Never having yet grown any I can't guess why you'd dismiss it so
wholeheartedly, but seems to me even a lot of "weeds" can be garden
treasures, that the difference between a weed & a flower is often
subjective (I let a nightshade vine remain in one yard, a complete & utter
weed, but it has been spectacularly lovely for its arrowed leaves, its
blue flowers, & its red berries, & it even developed a pretty woody
structure -- I'll pull out any others that appear but keeping one as a
happy flowering vine is a happy thing to do).

I'm not much of a rose fan overall, & the fancier the type the less
interesting it is to me; the simpler the type, the more saving graces it
has. Not long ago I was wandering along a sal****er inlet & came upon a
large stand of R. rugosa thick with soft seedy hips, & was really
impressed with how tasty they were right from the branches. I'd cooked
hard rosehips before but somehow hadn't previously realized the rugosa
hips are good fresh off the thorns in winter, if one forgives the
percentage of seeds & lets the pulpy part melt in the mouth. I also liked
the appearance of the old neglected tall & extremely upright winter thorns
-- interesting winter appearance is another thing that attracts me to
things.

I saw a snowy-white blossoming forsythia & it struck me as quite pleasing
& since it's the only one I've ever seen so far, can't regard it as overly
common. I wouldn't want it, on some level it would be too much like my
wild Philadelphius mock orange (another exciting weed). There are so many
interesting new cultivars of yellow forsythias, & it is so reliable in its
early-season heavy bloom, I really don't mind that it is overused. There
was a huge one already on the property when we bought the place, so I
wasn't tested as to whether or not I would personally have planted
anything so common. But having inherited it, it has never disappointed me.
I put up a page for it he
http://www.paghat.com/forsythia.html
plus a colorful autumn leaf page for it:
http://www.paghat.com/autumnleaves3.html
I do too often see in other yards forsythias trimmed back severely to
contain the size, & though these butchered specimens still bloom well,
when not blooming they look ugly as hell. But if it has room to fountain
it can be a deserving center of attention, plus there are true dwarf
cultivars if there isn't room to fountain, so no excuse for those
butchered ones. Like many other over-used things (lilac trees spring to
mind) they are popular because lovely & reliable.

Here though is a buttercup winter hazel:
http://www.paghat.com/winterhazel.html
which is sometimes recommended as a less common & subtler choice instead
of forsythia. It's never showy but it can be awfully pleasant in its
lowkey manner.

You might want to replace them with more deserving plants that are better
behaved and more aesthetically pleasing.

BTW, how do you know when your plants have gone insane?

In my case, when I am listening to the shrubbery having conversations
among themselves & with me, I can tell by their varied obsessions which
ones are crazy.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

The message
from "Cereoid+10" contains these words:


rosemarie face wrote in message
...
I'm in z5 and have two Forsythias and a Rose rugosa growing on the north
side of my house. They're growning like crazy.



No surprise there, Face.

Both are weedy trash plants anyway.

You might want to replace them with more deserving plants that are better
behaved and more aesthetically pleasing.

BTW, how do you know when your plants have gone insane?

When they make crazy growning noises?

Janet.

"Cereoid+10" wrote in message y.com...
No surprise there, Face.

Both are weedy trash plants anyway.

Since when? rugosa is edible - that alone makes it non-trashy in my
eyes. And forsythia makes the very first flowers around here, and is a
breeze to propagate by cutting (just push a stick of forsythia in the
ground in october, and it will put leaves in March). And they are both
relatively carefree.


You might want to replace them with more deserving plants that are better
behaved and more aesthetically pleasing.


rosemarie face wrote in message
...
I'm in z5 and have two Forsythias and a Rose rugosa growing on the north
side of my house. They're growning like crazy.
Rosie z5 Indiana


rugosa will die in full shade. Even in part shade it will suffer. It
needs full sun. Forsythia does a lot better in part shade.

paghat wrote:


I saw a snowy-white blossoming forsythia & it struck me as quite pleasing
& since it's the only one I've ever seen so far, can't regard it as overly
common. I wouldn't want it, on some level it would be too much like my
wild Philadelphius mock orange (another exciting weed).

The white forsythia is not a true forsythia - it is Abeliophyllum disticum, aka
white forsythia. Slightly tender, it is a much more attractive and
well-mannered plant than forsythia. In our climate, it often blooms before
forsythia, only hits about 5' max, has fragrant flowers and wonderful dark
purple stems that contrast nicely against the white flowers. A far superior
plant for these reasons, but like the true forsythia, doesn't have much to say
for itself when out of flower.

pam - gardengal

In article , Pam wrote:

paghat wrote:


I saw a snowy-white blossoming forsythia & it struck me as quite pleasing
& since it's the only one I've ever seen so far, can't regard it as overly
common. I wouldn't want it, on some level it would be too much like my
wild Philadelphius mock orange (another exciting weed).

The white forsythia is not a true forsythia - it is Abeliophyllum
disticum, aka
white forsythia. Slightly tender, it is a much more attractive and
well-mannered plant than forsythia. In our climate, it often blooms before
forsythia, only hits about 5' max, has fragrant flowers and wonderful dark
purple stems that contrast nicely against the white flowers. A far superior
plant for these reasons, but like the true forsythia, doesn't have much to say
for itself when out of flower.

pam - gardengal

Thanks! When I was told "that's white forsythia" I assumed a novel cultivar.

But I disagree yellow forsythias aren't much out of flower. I've seen this
comment often, but it strikes me as true mainly of cut-back specimens
which are stubby & ruinous looking.

I love the sweeping naked branches in winter when the bark turns rather
yellow; the brilliant yellow & red leaves of autumn with occasional
sprinkles of last-minute rebloom; the deep green sweeps of summer
foliage... There's not a season I don't like a big wild-looking one, even
if it outdoes itself most extremely when thick with yellow flowers. I've
noticed not all of them gain the brilliant autumn coloration & that would
be disappointing, but the one I inherited luckily has amazing autumn
color.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

paghat wrote:

In article , Pam wrote:

paghat wrote:


I saw a snowy-white blossoming forsythia & it struck me as quite pleasing
& since it's the only one I've ever seen so far, can't regard it as overly
common. I wouldn't want it, on some level it would be too much like my
wild Philadelphius mock orange (another exciting weed).

The white forsythia is not a true forsythia - it is Abeliophyllum
disticum, aka
white forsythia. Slightly tender, it is a much more attractive and
well-mannered plant than forsythia. In our climate, it often blooms before
forsythia, only hits about 5' max, has fragrant flowers and wonderful dark
purple stems that contrast nicely against the white flowers. A far superior
plant for these reasons, but like the true forsythia, doesn't have much to say
for itself when out of flower.

pam - gardengal

Thanks! When I was told "that's white forsythia" I assumed a novel cultivar.

But I disagree yellow forsythias aren't much out of flower. I've seen this
comment often, but it strikes me as true mainly of cut-back specimens
which are stubby & ruinous looking.

I love the sweeping naked branches in winter when the bark turns rather
yellow; the brilliant yellow & red leaves of autumn with occasional
sprinkles of last-minute rebloom; the deep green sweeps of summer
foliage... There's not a season I don't like a big wild-looking one, even
if it outdoes itself most extremely when thick with yellow flowers. I've
noticed not all of them gain the brilliant autumn coloration & that would
be disappointing, but the one I inherited luckily has amazing autumn
color.


In the proper placement, I'd guess I'd agree with you, but most seem to be planted
in an area they rapidly outgrow and suffer for it by ill-mannered pruning. As a
background shrub in a mixed shrub border, they can add to early and late season
interest (not all get good fall color, though), but most seem to be placed as a
stand-alone, single specimen - wouldn't be my first choice!

BTW, I have seen a well-done forsythia hedge. Very neat, tailored shape and good
blooms - guess they must prune annually immediately after bloom to get it to look
well AND bloom.

pam - gardengal

(paghat) expounded:

Here though is a buttercup winter hazel:
http://www.paghat.com/winterhazel.html
which is sometimes recommended as a less common & subtler choice instead
of forsythia. It's never showy but it can be awfully pleasant in its
lowkey manner.

I have one of these, Corylopsis pauciflora, but it's got longer flower
clusters than the ones in your picture, it's actually very showy. I
thought I had a picture of it, I'll take another one this spring when
it blooms. I was surprised at how pretty it was the first time it
bloomed for me. Another great find at the New England Wildflower
Society plant sale!

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

Very funny Cereoid ! But I still love these plants!! They don't look
like weeds to me .
Rosie z5