Photographs by Tom Bland

Forsythias are often maligned as unruly shrubs that don’t offer much beyond their spring bloom. While they may not be a haven for pollinators and birds, I always enjoy their chartreuse explosion as being a definitive marker that winter is truly behind us. With some spectacular forsythias blooming in my immediate vicinity, I began to wonder about others that I hadn’t seen – where were they hiding, and what did they look like?

This brief project over a couple of days in April had me driving around our town of West Stockbridge MA searching for bursts of yellow. In the process, I met residents of the town I had never spoken with before, helped a guy with a flat tire and no cell service call his mechanic nearby, and explored roads and lanes of the town that I had never seen.

We have made a small zine of this project featuring a selection of the photographs – grab a copy from the West Stockbridge info booth. Unfold it and stick it on your fridge!

More at https://pappasbland.com/forsythias-of-west-stockbridge