Now that the daffodils have passed their peak and are beginning to fade it is time to look forward to the next plants to greet the procession of spring. To cheer what are often dark and gloomy days at this time of year the eight plants described below are all golden yellow. From the ground hugging winter aconite to the tall bulk of the forsythia this dazzling yellow will brighten the dullest day. These eight plants are described in an article by Andrew Keys which I found on the Houzz website.
Winter blues got you down? Cheer up: It’s always spring somewhere. What better way to beat the blues than with a host of spring yellows? Here are a few you may know and love, and a few more you’d do well to get to know better.Forsythia: Retina-searing though it may be, I dare you not to love forsythia in spring. It’s not my favorite by a long shot, but this time of year, it’s hard to beat. In addition to its bodacious gold, forsythia (USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9) grows just about anywhere, looks great en masse, and makes a perfect informal screen or hedge at 4-8 ft. tall and wide. Its cons: It grows to monstrous proportions in a few short years, and beyond spring, it’s a super snooze.
Plant forsythia with space to fill, where it can grow naturally into its vase shape. When it gets big, pruning ? especially into formal shapes ? is a fool’s errand. If you’re looking for excitement beyond spring, seek out cultivars with exciting variegated foliage, such as gold-veined ‘Kumson’.Spike winter hazel: Forsythia’s bold gold makes a statement for sure, and maybe it’s my nature to relate good things back to food, but when I seek out yellow, I look for pale, buttery hues the likes of winter hazel (Corylopsis spicata, Zones 5-8). It blooms March to April here in Zone 6, around the same time as forsythia, and prefers light shade to part shade and average garden soil.
Winter hazel grows at an amiable pace (4-8 ft. tall, 8-10 ft. wide), a better maintenance choice for designers in search of shrubs that don’t need to be fended off with a whip and a chair. (Ahem, forsythia.) Its broad leaves are texturally interesting, but try fabulous cultivar ‘Golden Spring’, whose foliage emerges reddish, and quickly turns to a luminous chartreuse that lasts throughout the growing season.
See more at Houzz
