FLORA 



AND SYLVA. 



Vol. I. No. 4.] 



JULY, 1 90 3. 



[Monthly. 



SUMMER'S GOLDEN RAIN. 



Soon after the appearance of Wood Hya- 

 cinths, giving us the prettiest ground 

 colour in British woods, there comes 

 in bloom a precious gift of the earth- 

 mother — the trees and shrubs that bear 

 a rain of rich yellow, often pendant, 

 bloom. They are heralded in our own 

 land by the Broom — one of the most 

 graceful shrubs of the northern world. 

 I was looking at it yesterday — a dull 

 rainy May day — as it sprang here and 

 there out of a live fence dividing a 

 meadowed vale from a wood, and won- 

 dering what sight in a garden could sur- 

 pass its fountains of flowers. The seed 

 had been scattered along the Quick 

 fence soon after its planting, and all this 

 loveliness of early summer bloom won 

 without in the least lessening the use or 

 value of the fence. Equally free, and 

 often more showy,is the Spanish Broom, 

 which is hardy in most of our country ; 

 and there are a number of other kinds, 

 which, at least on warm soils, would 

 give like effects. 



Most beautiful of all such plants, 

 however, are the Laburnums ; well 

 known, it is true, but the question is 

 as to their right use and effect. Many 

 have trees of them of the standard 



form ; it is inevitable that each trade 

 should prefer to take the shortest way 

 — some routine way — that one can fol- 

 low continually ; but when we visit 

 the mountains of Central Europe and 

 see a Laburnum hanging over some 

 high rock which one cannot climb — 

 not larger than a gooseberry bush, yet 

 with its beautiful golden rain all the 

 same — one asks why there should be 

 only one way of using or planting such 

 a lovely tree : why one should not 

 raise this gift of the mountains from 

 seed, instead of always taking grafted 

 plants. In the case of Andre's bronze 

 Broom, we see that raising even com- 

 mon wild things from seed may some 

 time or other lead to varieties of the 

 highest value for the garden. If the seed 

 of Laburnum is not offered by the trade 

 everywhere, it is certainly saved by all 

 the great seed houses of Europe and 

 offered at very reasonable rates. I have 

 seen plenty of it this year, and I believe 

 it might be scattered about copses, here 

 and there, and even without the trouble 

 of raising it in the nursery. 



In any case, it is well worth that 

 attention, assuming that there is room 

 enough for it to be grown in an effec- 



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