BROOMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22718, 2 November 1935, Page 24

BROOMS

CYTISUS AND GENISTAS The various species of brooms and their garden varieties are well worth growing in the smallest garden, and, as they are nearly as accommodating as the common broom and gorse they will succeed in any soil except a swamp and cold, wet clav. They are at their best in a light, loamy soil, but will grow on a rocky bank or anywhere where they are w<>ll drained. They are very effective on the rock garden, grouped in the shrubbery border, or in beds in the lawn, but must have full exposure to the eun, and. as they are leafless or their leaves are very 6mall they are not affected by the wind. The species can be raised from quite easily, and so can some of the hybrids and variations, and. though a certain proportion of these would be little better than the common broom, they are sure to be some true to type aud there may be improvements. Cytisus Benii is a seedling from U Ardionii, and is the best of the dwarf brooms. It has a neat habit, not more than 12 inches in height,, and when m flower the whole plant it enveloped m golden yellow blossoms. It can be grown from cuttings put into a sand frame in the autumn. C. Cornish Cream has cream coloured buds, which, when open, has almost white standards and clear canaryyellow winge. C. Dallimorii is a beautiful hybrid raised at Kew from a cross between i . Andreanus and the common white broom. Its flowers are rmuive pink, the keel shading into deep crimson. C. purpureus is a spreading deciduous shrub of prostrate growth with pinkish-mauve flowers produced in pairs. C. scoparius Andreanus is a showy form with large flowers similar to the common broom. Its flowers have a bright golden-yellow standard, the lower petals being deep bronzy-crimson. Seed-

Jings of this variety give a great many variations and we have now Butterfly, Daisy Hill, Donald Seedling, Dragonfly, Firefly, and Dorothy Walpol, which is one of the best. Cytisus pallidus is a neat species with sulphur yellow flowers borne along thin twiggy dropping branches. Genista saggitalis is a charming little broom suitable for the rock garden. It is practically leafless, but has flat angular-winged stems and deep vellow flowers produced in terminal clusters. Later on we have Genists retensis, the "Mount Etna Broom," and Spartium junceum, the Spanish broom, both desirable shrubs. The varieties of C. scoparius can be grafted on to the laburnum to form standards, which are very effective in a bed carpented with the dwarf growing kinds.