About
This robust shrub reaches a height of up to 3 meters, featuring an airy, rounded silhouette and grey-green, pinnate foliage. In June and July, it produces bronze-orange flowers that resemble peas, which are succeeded by distinctive bladder-like pods measuring up to 8 centimeters in length, often accented with a hint of red.
About the genus
Colutea consists of deciduous shrubs characterized by pinnate foliage. In summer, they produce short axillary racemes bearing pea-shaped flowers, which can be yellow or a deep orange hue. After flowering, these plants develop translucent, inflated pods.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H5
Plant details
- Plant type
- Shrubs
- Habit
- Bushy
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 2.5-4 metres
- Spread
- 2.5-4 metres
- Time to full height
- 10-20 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden, Mediterranean climate plants
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Will grow in poor dry soil in exposed conditions, but likes full sun
- Pruning
- Pruning group 1
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed in a cold frame in autumn or spring or propagate by greenwood cuttings in early summer
- Pest resistance
- Generally pest-free
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free