Pittosporum eugenioides

We bought 5 or 6 of these plants several years ago, with the idea of using them to create a hedge.  We liked the look of them, and thought they were just like any other pittosporum shrubs - of which we have a few.  But our other pittosporum are varieties of Pittosporum tenuifolium.  This one is different.  Pittosporum eugenioides - also known as lemonwood or tatara in its native New Zealand - is rather less hardy.  One of the plants has still got a fully legible label attached, from which I got the name of the shrub today, and went to the trouble of looking it up on the internet - maybe we should have done that 3 years ago.

Unsurprisingly, given their stated requirement for a sheltered position in full sun - they haven't done all that well planted on the edge of the garden, underneath the shade of our oak tree.  You can see them looking lovely and bushy here to the left of the oak tree, before their first tough winter!

They really suffered from the snow during "The Beast from the East".  We've now planted some crab apple and other native hedging around them - and maybe we should think of rescuing one and putting it in a more suitable location.

Anyway, they were in bud earlier this year, and today I noticed they are flowering abundantly, a rather pretty yellow flower.  

It has rained on and off all day, and is really rather cold.  We switched the central heating off a couple of weeks ago during the really hot weather and have been toughing it out, sitting shivering, wrapped in blankets, during the evening, but I will be glad to see the end of this winter.