Genista aetnensis
Sicilian broom, Mount Etna broom
- Height × spread
- 5m × 5m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Flowers
- Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
Here's a shrub that comes out in a brilliant blaze of colour in mid to late summer. It is a spare, elegant plant with smooth dark stems and green leafless shoots. The yellow flowers are pea-like and appear in light profusion. They are sweetly fragrant with a vanilla-like scent and develop into long, thin, dangling pods. The plant takes its name from Mount Etna in Sicily which is covered with this broom. It looks wonderful against a baking brick wall on a hot day. After flowering, the light, dappled shade that is cast by this broom is useful for providing some shelter for other plants.
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Green
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- Yes, sweet-vanilla
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 5m
- Spread
- 5m
- Height in 10 years
- 2m
- Spread in 10 years
- 2m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Seaside garden, Scented garden, Mediterranean garden, Gravel garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Clay, Poor soil, Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Coloured stems, Architectural, Bee attraction
- Maintenance
- Easycare – low/no maintenance
- Hazards
- No
- Pet safe
- Yes – listed in our pet-safe plants
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early · Planting
Prune new growth
Prune in early spring being careful only to prune wood that has been grown in the previous season of growth. Dead branches and misplaced or awkward branches can be removed in their entirety.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.
Found in
More Genista
Genista
Broom, Woadwaxen
Genista hispanica
Spanish gorse, Spanish broom
Genista lydia
Lydian broom
Genista 'Porlock'
Broom woadwaxen
Genista pilosa 'Procumbens'
Silkyleaf woadwaxen, Hairy greenwood
Genista tinctoria
Dyer's greenwood, Common woadwaxen, Dyers broom
Genista maderensis
Madeira broom
Genista tinctoria 'Royal Gold'
Dyer's greenwood, Common woadwaxen, Dyers broom