If there’s such a thing as a happy plant, then broom (Cytisus scoparius) is it. When you see half a dozen of them wild on a hillside, dressed top to bottom in butter yellow, thrashing this way and that in the wind, it’s like some kind of joyous dance class. You have to smile. You can see why people plant them.
In gardens, of course, it’s usually a more sophisticated hybrid form of broom that’s grown, such as the compact orange and red ‘Lena’ (1.2m), dark pink ‘Burkwoodii’ (1.2m), ‘Boskoop Ruby’ (1.2m), or lower-growing ones such as ‘Allgold’ (90cm), a fine bright yellow.
And maybe best of all is creamy, early flowering ‘Warminster’, which blooms right at the start of May. There’s a
