Later I spotted one of these shrubs in a garden centre, I was told they were not hardy, they were also expensive, because of this I felt unable to justify buying it, and like the fox in the fable of "The Fox and the Grapes", I told myself that since it was expensive and was not hardy, it would soon die and therefore was a waste of money. Thus I convinced myself that I didn't really want one anyway!
A few years on I saw another one, marked right down, and in a very poorly state, this one I could justify. Taking it home I made a space in a border, dug a hole, enriched it with compost and planted this small half dead looking large twig.Its growth was very slight and each spring I expected it to have been finished by the cold, the rain and the bleak winds that sweep across the fields and through our garden. The first flowers were welcomed with much smelling and many visits just to admire them.
Since then it has grown prodigiously and now is enormous, it is multi-stemmed, therefore a shrub not a tree, and is twenty feet high and twenty feet across. Its Latin name is Cytisus Batandieri it is still a favourite and each year we delight in its profusion of bloom.
The flowers are brightest yellow and grow on upright spikes up to six inches long, with multiple blooms packed on to each spike, they are strongly scented and magically of pineapple. The leaves are grey green and a perfect foil for the bright yellow flowers.
However a word of warning to take care when smelling and not to sniff too deeply, because careful inspection of the tiny flower heads reveals many tiny black beetle like insects.
This shrub is a great draw to the birds, but especially wrens, blue tits and great tits, who have obviously found the secret hoard of food hidden in it's flowers. Even during the winter these birds are still present, though in lesser numbers and can be seen foraging among the leaves.
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