i lacked bloom a couple years ... my conclusion.. is that if they came active.. here in MI ... on an early warm spell ... and THEN FROZE or got hard frosted.. i lost bloom ... the problem usually is remember the weather event.. a few weeks back.. when i finally noticed lack of bloom ... F's fascinate me out here in the country ...in the local podunk town ... they bloom a week or two earlier.. as compared to 2 miles from such.. in my yard .. and across my 500 foot square lot.. 5 acres ... i have an 8 foot drop running east/west across the whole ... the ones at the top ... bloom one week later than town ... and the ones at the bottom ... half the time never bloom ... and when they do.. they are a week later than the higher ones... a couple hundred feet away ... my best theory.. is that cold air falls.. and moving air doesnt harm as fast as pooled stagnant air.. and the lower ones.. are harmed ... i cant think of any other reason for the mystery ... as an aside.. the hosta bed at the bottom.. also comes out of dormancy a week or two later ... so something is keeping the soil colder down there ... ken

Is it planted in Full Sun? Sounds like either too much shade, pruning at the wrong time of year, or too much nitrogen. Forsythia is a plant that needs a lot of room (10' x 10')and should be left unpruned to let it have its natural vase shape. With that said, the best time and way to prune a forsythia is in the very early spring during and directly after blooming. Prune it so you can bring in your trimmings and let the flowers open in the house for a nice touch of color. Forsythia bloom on last years growth. If you prune now, you will be cutting off next years blooms, and I am truly doubtful there is time for them to grow back before dormancy sets in. This is probably the most misunderstood aspect of pruning. Shrubs which flower early in the year, on stems that they produced the previous year. Forsythia will begin next year's flower buds in June or July of this year. When you do prune, cut back flowered growths at least 1/3rd of the way back into the shrub, to a new young shoot or node Cut about 25% of the stems right back to within a few inches of the ground. This will produce nice lower growth, which in turn will be part of your framework for next year. If you don't do this, then the shrub will simply get taller each year, with the flowering growth right at the top.

That may be another factor. I've grown the clems up the outside of the plant on the dwarf arctic willow and the juniper. The crabapple, though, had the clem planted close to the trunk and so Huldine went up pretty much straight, inside the tree. That's where the crabapple didn't grow many of its own leaves. The rest of the tree looks good. I always intended to spread Huldine out so it didn't all cluster in one place, but it frequently got away from me. I wonder whether other gardeners shove, I mean, encourage, clems to grow largely inside a plant and only peek out here and there and wonder whether they're better than I am about spreading the clem out so it doesn't impact the host as much. I appreciate all the feedback, though. I'm the only gardener in my family, so it's nice to discuss ideas with others who have different experiences.

Here in Mystic, CT, my pansies are in full bloom and have been for almost a month now. I normally don't even try to winter them. But, I blew out a knee last growing season & my fall clean-up was not as thorough as normal so the pansies didn't get yanked. They look so cheery right now but yet...they also look VERY out of place! The worst (?) though...I've got 6 flowers open on my PJM. It's in its 3rd year from a 1 ga container & planted in a southwest, full-sun location....4' from the foundation. I'm afraid I'll lose the rest of the buds when the weather eventually returns to seasonal. I also have daffs out of the ground. Also, my 'Joan Senior' daylilies (semi-evergreen) are out of the ground a good foot. The weed are growing like crazy unchecked. Our grass needs to be mowed. It's on my husband's "To-Do" list for this weekend. He's NEVER mowed the grass on New Year's weekend! But, it really needs it...about 4-6" long & looking very ratty. My moss garden is loving this weather. It's expanded much more than what I've come to expect over the fall cool-off period when it does most of its growing. Oh, my shasta daisies are also showing new growth...I cut them down to about 6" in late October or early November. Many of my perennials were not cut down at all this fall. Not because of my knee; but, because they just never yellowed like normal & I was afraid to cut them while still actively growing fearing the weather would snap cold and they wouldn't be dormant & I'd lose them. I'm even more concerned about them now. We're hardly even freezing at night...many night are over 40 degrees. Somehow, I'm expecting a very cold late January through February? Just a feeling...we'll see. Tricia