The tints of April

For much of the year, it’s a straggly shrub in our garden which I often think I will cut down.
But then, this time of year it comes into its own and is reward enough.
We planted the forsythia soon after we moved in, and other than the occasional prune, gets very little attention. Yet it is one of those shrubs which seems to care for itself, and the beauty just now is that it flowers before the leaves come.
So it’s a mass of yellow bloom just now in a shady corner of the garden, and although daffodils are still in flower, and tulips are showing through, this is really the only colour we have at present.
We are told that most versions of the forsythia are to be found in Asia, yet it takes its name from a Scottish botanist, William Forsyth, who lived in the 18th century.

Ours is truly a 21st century shrub however, and just now I am thankful that I resisted the temptation not to just prune it, but to cut it right down.