Piptanthus Nepalensis

In March, short spikes of furry flower buds open to reveal large, bright-yellow, showy flowers, rather like laburnum but in short upright clusters, and which smell of vanilla and last until June. The yellow-green, flat, pendulous seed pods are about four inches long and are evident in August and September. The youngest stems are dark green, almost black, in spring, and the leaves are a shiny dark green on the upper side, blue-green underneath. This lovely shrub grows quickly once the seed has germinated