Adios

It had to come out. The Spanish broom shrub was simply too big and coarse for the narrow strip we call our back yard. 

The flowers are bright, but they bloom in stages over the whole shrub, not all at once. It's not pleasant smelling, it's browned out in places, and it dominates the space, emphasizing the long horizontal line of fence and house beyond. In winter it could be a mess.

All I can see from the kitchen window is the dark interior gap between it and the Chinese privet next to it.

It is just too wide, too coarse looking, and because it reaches out from the fence into the yard, it makes our back yard visually and functionally just the strip of flagstone walkway.

Still, I liked it. It caught the light in early morning. The dark green color provided a contrast with the brighter small leaved things around it. The upward growing narrow needles were a contrast as well. It would have been a great background to other plants out in a field where its big shape and form could be a foil. 

Tucked behind it is a mature Rose of Sharon, misshapen from being crowded. You can't see the Rose of Sharon from any angle. 

I had to list all these detriments and revisit them in my mind to convince myself to take out a thriving, drought loving, interesting, upright plant that blooms reliably, is dark green in summer and . . . well. 

I'd like some room in my tiny back yard, I want to rejuvenate and feature the Rose of Sharon, and I could do more with this space with the Spanish broom gone.

And so, adios to it.