Spartium junceum
Already planted here in the back courtyard -- removed the biggest in the back yard in fall 2021
In 2021 I finally decided to take this out.
It was simply too big and woody and coarse for the slight strip of courtyard outside our kitchen window. It bloomed profusely but in waves, not all at once and it actually did not smell very good. In winter it could be a mess.
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| In 2021 before I took it out |
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| From some angles it was nice to look at, but it hid everything behind it |
So it had to go.
The flowers were bright, but bloomed in stages over the whole shrub, not all at once. It's not pleasant smelling, it was browned out in places, and it dominated the space, emphasizing the long horizontal line of fence and house beyond.
All I could see from the kitchen window was the dark interior between it and the privet.
Although, it caught the sun in the morning which was nice.
I liked the contrast of its rough form and its dark color contrasted with all the brighter, small-leaved shrubs around it.
But it was just too wide, too coarse looking, and because it reached out from the fence into the yard, it made our back yard visually and functionally just the strip of flagstone walkway.
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| It had presence, dark form, contrast . . . but was too big and too rough looking. |
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A lot of small stuff all about the yard. No height or shade.
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Here's a bit of history:
There were several here when we moved in, some smaller ones apparently self sown, and most were in spots that they would outgrow. We took out all except this large one by the fence, and another by the side of the house. These are tough, rough looking plants and they get huge.
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| April 9, 2018, before the flowers opened |
In the last week of April the flowers opened, some creamy white, others yellow, and a kind of butter and sugar effect overall.
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| April 27, 2018 |
The fragrance is strong. It's a heady, spicy, strong smell, and at times it's kind of unpleasant, but other times it's perfumey.
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| April 26, 2018, just starting to bloom |
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| April 26, 2018 |
This is an interesting shrub. Very coarse looking even with its delicate pea-like blooms. It's tough and structural and it fills the space. The fragrance can be nice, sometimes not, but it catches your attention.
By the first week in May it is glorious.
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| May 5, 2018 |
In 2019, after a particularly long and cold winter, it did not bloom until early May, and even then it was patchy.
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| May 7, 2019 |
With the wet winter and spring, it got very floppy and huge. and drooping. In mid June we pruned off about a third, maybe half of the lower branches, and it looks trimmer and more architectural now, with an open understructure.
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| June 16, 2019 |
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| June 16, 2019 |
There is a Spanish broom seedling growing at the front corner of the house. I cut it to the ground in winter 2018 and it regrew but did not flower. In 2019 I did not cut it back, and it filled out quite a bit and then flowered much later in the season, after the mature one in back.
Here it is blooming in late June:
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| June 22, 2019 |
It's a pretty accent at that corner of the house, and a nice filler before the fall anemone I planted next to it gets going and fils out.
But I will really need to keep this chopped back or it will take over and swamp that area. I think I should cut it to the ground each year -- but that will sacrifice the yellow flowers.
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| June 22, 2019 |
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| In July 2019 |
