Forsythia Week

Thanks to a very warm weekend with temperatures topping out at 24 degrees on Saturday afternoon as we took part in Hamburg räumt auf, a city-wide spring-cleaning tidy-up campaign on the streets and in parks, the Forsythia has got away to an early start in week 2011/14. The purebred F. 'Linwood' was a couple of days earlier off the mark this year than the mongrel types we adopted from surrounding gardens. By contrast, the Abeliophyllum distichum seems slower to blossom. It is in any case much smaller than the vigorous Forsythia shrubs. The daffodils are also in full bloom.

Forsythia Week

As we enjoy the Forsythia bloom in Week 2010/15, we begin to notice the extreme damage done by two solid months of snow cover. Leptospermum grandiflora, which I tried to bring through without winter protection, has died back almost to the base with only a few green outrunners at ground level. A few daffodils bloom, but those on the street berm seem to be all snatched away by young lovers as soon as they unfold, and there is not much to see. I notice one Pieris in the neighbourhood blooming, but this seems to be a no-show year for ours.

Forsythia Week

This looks to be another early Forsythia year: these shrubs are now well into a great display of yellow blossom in 2010/14. This is our first season with an Abeliophyllum distichum in the garden: it is sometimes called "snow forsythia". It has a very impressive, hard-white blossom. It is giving its name to this week. Some gardens and traffic islands are already showing impressive displays of daffodils, but ours are all holding back. And Pieris, which has flowered in week 14 in the past? This year it seems to be calling a bye.

Forsythia Week

In week 2009/15, the various cultivars of Forsythia come into flower, somewhat later than last year, with the fine yellows soon offset by glorious white sprays that might be one of the species of Crataegus. Whatever it is, it is a native harbinger of spring that often grows wild in area hedgerows. The first flowering cherries in the neighbourhood, conceivably Prunus 'Okame' or Prunus hirtipes (formerly Prunus conradinae), come into blossom, carrying through on the promises many weeks ago of Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis'. For a useful guide to flowering plum and cherry blossoms, see the Brooklyn Botanic Garden picture gallery. In the woods and hedgerows, the greening has begun, with deciduous trees showing a tinge of green at the beginning of the week and sprays of young leaves by the end of the week, though the timber is still visible. This is supported at ground level by fields of Narcissus, and the first heads of Tulipa as the week closes. Ribes sanguineum 'Atrorubens' comes into full flower late in the week: its drooping capsules have hung pregnantly for more than two weeks, shyly promising the deep pink about to come.