It'll come as no surprise that I'm a fan of the humble yellow forsythia. In fact I think I've had it in almost every garden I've ever had.

Surprisingly though I've only ever planted one of those bushes, and that's in our current garden. And that was to replace a forsythia bush that had mysteriously given up the ghost one winter. Ever the optimist I refused to believe that it wasn't going to spring back into life, so left it there hoping for the best. But nothing and by the summer, with its branches still lifeless I had to admit defeat, but not before making a plan to buy a replacement.

It's forsythia time right now. The hedge on my walk to work (below) is just stunning right now, and it never fails to make me smile.

While in Dorset last week, along with the yellow flowering gorse which lined the sides of the roads, we saw plenty of forsythia. That was in the gardens we visited, and in front gardens. We had a great visit to Compton Acres in Poole on the sunniest day of the week, more on that another day, and it was great to see so much colour on display.

But it was at Max Gate in Dorchester that my Forsythia Inspiration struck.

I know the picture above doesn't look much, but seeing the forsythia cuttings neatly in a row I knew it'd be something I'd be trying for myself. I mean, I know how easily forsythia roots - and make a point of clearing it all out of the flower beds following a trimming - and with the vibrant hedge just around the corner from home, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about trying this before.

You see over the winter I've been ogling bare rooted hedging in the plant catalogues to use as a low hedge on the allotment - I know, I really should get out more! I'd been deliberating about how many plants I'd need and the ideal mix of flowering and fruiting shrubbery. Not too much obviously, as I'm nowhere near knowing what I'd need, but I do know a lot of the theory of planting a hedge now!

Seeing those cuttings above, I realised I could make my own hedge (in time) and I've already a couple of cuttings shoved into soil in the greenhouse. MOH, as usual, thinks I'm mad, but I'll be adding to my cutting collection as the flowers start to fade because I can't bear to cut them beforehand. I know this could be a lengthy business, but won't it be worth it?