Michelob gifted the woods with a new plant – cytisus praecox.  Otherwise known as ‘Broom’.  It’s spring flowering, with long bracts of buttery yellow blossom.  To me it looks almost like a softer paler yellow non-prickly gorse.  Like all spring flowers, it’s recommended as a plant for pollinators, which makes the big guy’s heart sing, being that he’s so over-the-moon enamoured with bees and other buzzy bugs and flying beasts.

Broom are a perennial shrub that grow well in sunny positions in well-drained soil.  It is an evergreen shrub that bears fragrant flowers from May to June.

No regular pruning is required, but plants can be trimmed into shape after flowering if desired (though it is not recommended to cut into old wood).  When mature broom can grow to 5×5 feet.

Once established they are drought tolerant, and are also suitable for coastal regions.

I planted M’s broom into the half circle bed towards the back, just tucked in front of the hawthorn (presently in flower), to keep Ayla’s roses company.   That area is overrun with ground elder, so hopefully this one will be robust enough to hold its ground against the elder.  Go broom go!