Commonly known as ‘Evergreen Laburnum’
This is a popular semi deciduous or deciduous branching Himalayan shrub which is commonly grown alongside a warm sheltered wall in full sun.
It grows to around 8-12ft and can develop a single trunk although multiple shoots are more common. Quick growing and vigorous but fairly short lived as a result.
P. nepalensis will remain evergreen in milder areas and in cities but is deciduous in colder areas. That is not to say that it is not frost hardy because it is! It can also be quite variable in leaf form and appearance.
The leaves are dark green, sometimes grey, and split into three leaflets. The forms with blue or grey-green foliage have white hairs on the surface of the leaves. The flowers are bright yellow and pea-like in upright terminal racemes which are 1½in long. The flowers have hairy bracts and appear in May or June.
The seed pods are 3-5in long and also pea-like. When ripe the seeds are readily germinated in containers or in the cold frame in spring or autumn.
We have found this a difficult plant to grow from cuttings.