On rainy gray days, forsythia seems to shine the strongest, lighting up all the dark corners.
Folks around here call it Yellow Bells and you can see it in almost every yard.
You can cut the budding branches and bring them inside where they will pop into bloom and light up the house.
Forsythia roots easily -- in water or in soil. Over the years I've started many pots of forsythia and scattered the resulting bushes all over the farm.
Forsythia is enterprising and roots itself, flinging out branched that lie on the soil and take root, stealthily advancing year by year. We have a forsythia wilderness at the foot of our front yard.
And, unlike my azaleas and rhododendrons, the deer don't seem interested in it.
Hurrah for forsythia!