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THE BROOMS OF THE CYTISUS 

 GROUP. 



It is sometimes the fashion to belittle 

 the value of yellow-flowering shrubs 

 and plants because, forsooth, Nature 

 has been lavish in her use of this colour, 

 and what is common is undervalued. 

 And yet what in Nature is more cheer- 

 ful than a wide stretch of golden Furze 

 such as gladdens the heart in early spring 

 — the meadows with their Buttercups, 

 the stream-side with its Marsh Mari- 

 golds, or the hills of southern Europe 

 clothed from top to bottom with the 

 same reflected sunlight only more varied 

 in kind? Or again in autumn, the all- 

 pervading yellows and ambers form a 

 fit settingfor the passing touch of flame 

 from point to point, where a like pro- 

 fusion of crimson and scarlet would jar 

 upon the senses. To look down from 

 the heights of Savoy or the Canton de 

 Vaud upon a land of gold bathed in clear 

 sunlight when the vineyards of France 

 and Switzerland are ripening for the fall 

 is such a sight as makes one hesitate to 

 condemn anything because it is only 

 yellow. 



Amongst golden flowering-shrubs 

 few are richer in their display than the 

 Brooms, for though 

 other colours are repre- 

 sented shades of yellow 

 prevail, and as soon as one kind fails 

 another takes its turn until from early 

 spring to late autumn it is possible to re- 

 joice in the rich radiance of theCytisus 

 group. They have their faults ; they are 

 difficult to transplant; are apt to be- 

 come bare and leggy below, and some- 

 times, especially when grafted (though 



Their Value and 

 Beauty. 



this is hardly a fault of their own) are 

 liable to die off of a sudden without 

 apparent cause. On the other hand, 

 their merits are no less pronounced, 

 being for the most part hardy and pro- 

 fuse in flower and seed, free from dis- 

 ease and insect foes, growing well in 

 dry and even poor ground, upon hot 

 banks and other spots unsuited to bor- 

 der plants. Some sorts thrive perfectly 

 in heavy, uninviting soil, while by using 

 kinds of varied colour, such as the White 

 Broom and the rich crimson-brown of 

 Andre's Broom, it is possible to produce 

 effects of great beauty at a trifling cost 

 whether in the rock-garden, the shrub- 

 bery, or pieces of rough ground which 

 are otherwise an eyesore and a per- 

 plexity. Many kinds come freely from 

 seed scattered here and there, if care be 

 taken to give the young plants some 

 little protection from accident in their 

 earliest stages ; it may also be taken as 

 an axiom that no kind should be grafted 

 that can possibly be made to do well on 

 its own roots. The following kinds have 

 found a place in gardens for their hardi- 

 ness and beauty: — 



The W hite Spanish Broom [Cytisus albus) . 

 — A native of Spain and Portugal, flowering 

 in May. It is of quick growth, reaching a 

 height of 5 or 6 feet in three orfouryearsfrom 

 seed, while old plants sometimes reach 1 5 feet, 

 but are then apt to become naked below. 

 When thickly covered with its white blossoms, 

 borne in long racemes, there are few finer 

 flowering shrubs, and beautiful effects may be 

 gained by massing it in a bold way with one 

 or other of the Golden Brooms; it bears but few 

 leaves, which are silky and divided in threes. 

 The plant ripens seed in abundance,from which 

 young plants are easily raised, taking care to 

 pinch frequently in their early stages to en- 

 courage a good base. Two or three varieties of 



