According to “Heal Yourself with Flowers and Other Essences” by Nikki Bradford, the essence of forsythia can be used to help people with their addictions. The author writes that the plant can give a person the strength to change their engrained habits. From the book, “Allow the golden yellow of my blossoms to bathe you in the light of transformation. Let me strengthen your willingness to move forward.”
The natural history of the forsythia does suggest this particular attribute of its magical qualities. Brought from China in 1842 by Robert Fortune (a famous plant explorer), this bush thrived unexpectedly well in both England and North America. Robert Fortune named the plant after William Forsyth, who had started the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.
Before that in 1833, another species of forsythia had been introduced in Europe as a lilac. After further taxonomic work, botanists decided it to be a new genus of the olive family, and classified it with the Forsythia family. Since then, this plant has mutated several times, providing gardeners with a variety of choices, such as being more upright or having larger flowers. Forsythia demonstrates the ability to start over fresh.
Often seen as one of the first signs of spring, the bright yellow flowers of the forsythia bush shouts, “SPRING IS COMING!”. Walking down a drab street on a cold, grey day, a person feels often happy after seeing this cheerful bush. Its flowers give hope and reassurance that warm weather is soon to arrive. Like the forsythia, we can be bright on the greyest day, knowing that a better day is coming.
Forsythia is a brave shrub. When many other plants wait for warmer weather, the forsythia pops out, in cold March, with all its glory. A person can draw strength from the courageous saffron flowers of this plant.
People frequently plant this shrub because it is adaptable to many conditions. Few diseases can attack a forsythia bush. It is easy to reproduce either by cuttings or by pruning it back. In addition, the shrub will root itself by drooping branches on the ground. Later, these branches will root on the spot.
People also like the forsythia because it acts as a living wall or a privacy fence. When this bush is leafed out, it forms a dense screen. Forsythia shields people from unpleasant things, and offers privacy.
With its vigorous growth, one forsythia bush can overrun a large area. According to horticultural experts, in five years, a shrub can grow eight feet tall (nearly three meters) and five feet across, (almost two meters.) Because of this ease in taking over an area, it is often listed as an invasive plant species. Unless forsythia is carefully monitored, it can crowd out native plant species. The shadow side of forsythia is its heedless dominance.
These aspects of the forsythia help me to understand its relations with the fairies. The bush provides places for the fairies and other nature spirits to dance. The forsythia protects them from view, and offers them shelter.
In this aspect, forsythia acts as a gateway to the Otherworlds. If you stand quietly on a bright spring day, you can see the fairies come and go. Also on quiet summer evenings, the nature spirits peer shyly from underneath the leaves. This ordinary plant keeps many secrets well.
The forsythia helps people to understand that they can grow where they are planted. They can be transformed into something better. Be brave and go out into the cold world to bring happiness is what the forsythia counsels us. However, always be aware the shadow side of forsythia - excessive and overwhelming force. As we do with the fairies, we must also approach the forsythia with caution. This bush’s good qualities must be tempered with moderation.
References:
Bradford, Nikki, “Heal Yourself with Flowers and Other Essences”, Quadrille Publishing Ltd, London, 2006
Wells, Diana, “100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names”, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 1997
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Va. Carper
April 3, 2008