btw. ... just heard on wjr.. that fall color is just starting way up dare in da UP... sounds like a perfect time to get them in the ground outside ... ignore early snow or anything... they will be settling in.. until the ground freezes

ken

I would use the cold frame as long as it doesn’t have a lot of temperature fluctuations. Bury the pot in the soil and cover with mulch. Or try some planted outside and some in the cold frame to see which works best.

Thanks everyone. I'll try the coldframe. I don't have good sheltered spots here. Yes, I expected them to root sooner, based on previous experience with forsythia.

I don't know how much of a problem this is with forsythia but otherwise deciduous shrub cuttings may not continue on the second year if the first year they weren't taken early enough for additional top growth to have been made after roots formed. Top growth that gets far enough to set dormant stem buds before winter. When this happens the roots hang on through the first winter and into the second year, but the unbudded top never grows and eventually the whole cutting peters out, due to no top growth having been produced. So if it happens you have this experience with these cuttings that will be why.

Yes, I'd have taken cuttings in May (and used soil not water) if it were me and I wanted the cuttings to prosper.