Expect a mature height and width of four to six feet.
Growth is upward and arching, for naturalistic, informal privacy hedges, stand-alone specimens, or mixed shrub groupings.
8. Lynwood Gold
F. x intermedia ‘Lynwood Gold’ reaches heights of six to eight feet with a spread of eight to 10 feet, and has an upward, branching growth habit.
You can create privacy around a property perimeter, or plant as an imposing stand-alone specimen that welcomes spring with voluminous quantities of bold blossoms.
Foliage may shade toward gold and purple in autumn.
Find ‘Lynwood Gold’ in quart-size containers or as bare roots available at Nature Hills Nursery.
9. Magical® Gold
F. x intermedia Magical® ‘Gold’, aka ‘Kolgold’, is an early-blooming type with modest dimensions of three to four feet tall and wide.
Unlike many varieties, this cultivar blooms on both old and new wood, and provides masses of golden color on its upright branches.
It’s best suited to planting as low friendly hedges, mixed shrub groupings, and stand-alone placements.
Foliage bronzes to golds and purples in the fall.
You can find potted starter plants available from Burpee.
10. Meadowlark
F. x ‘Meadowlark’ is one of the most cold-hardy late winter to early spring choices. It’s a hybrid cross between F. to be and F. europaeaand is hardy as far north as Zone 3.
It is densely branched and reaches impressive heights of eight to 10 feet with an equal spread.
‘Meadowlark’ makes a spectacular privacy hedge, windbreak, or stand-alone, with its thicket of stems.
Enjoy masses of bright yellow in the spring and foliage that shades to purple in the fall.
You can find bare root stems available at Nature Hills Nursery.
11. Northern Gold
F. x intermedia ‘Northern Gold’ is a cold-hardy champion bred specifically for northern climates.
This Canadian-bred cultivar has flower buds that can survive temperatures down to -30°F, making it reliable in Zones 3 through 8.
It reaches a manageable six to eight feet in height with an equal spread. The growth habit is upright and arching, creating an attractive rounded form.
The bright golden-yellow flowers are particularly abundant and reliable, even following harsh cold snaps that would damage less hardy varieties.
This is an excellent choice for gardeners in cold climates who want a classic forsythia without worrying about bud damage.
Use it as a specimen plant, in mixed shrub borders, or plant several for an informal hedge. Foliage turns attractive shades of yellow and purple in fall.
You can find ‘Northern Gold’ available at Fast Growing Trees in two-gallon containers.
12. Show Off® Mindor
F. x intermedia ‘Mindor’ is an early spring flowering shrub that has dense, upright branches.
An abundance of bright yellow flowers are followed by deep green leaves that turn burgundy as autumn rolls around.
With heights and widths of five to six feet, its vertical growth habit and compact form makes it well suited to close planting for hedging.
You can find ‘Mindor’ in quart-sized or #2 containers available at Nature Hills Nursery.
13. Sunrise
Known as “semi-compact,” F. x intermedia ‘Sunrise’ is a late winter to early spring selection with upright branches and a mounding growth habit. This cultivar is hardy to Zone 4.
Its airy nature and four- to six-feet height make this an attractive choice for stand-alone or mixed shrub group placements.
Foliage deepens to purple hues in autumn.
You can find bare root plants available at Nature Hills Nursery.
What’s Not to Love?
Although I tend to favor native plants, I like non-native forsythia because it’s a part of my family’s gardening culture.
As a matter of fact, it’s so prevalent in my region that at one time I thought it was native to Pennsylvania.
For me, the first sighting of yellow brings a sense of giddy anticipation of the gardening season to come, and a welcome sense of having weathered another winter.
I also like forsythia because it is so user friendly. Simply snip a stem and push it into the soil, or bend a branch to the ground and cover it with a rock, and nine times out of ten, roots will sprout.
