Laburnum trees have special meaning for me.
They grow profusely here in Victoria BC and are presently in full bloom.
I first became aware of them nearly forty years ago, in southern Ontario, in an English gardening book. I had never seen one growing or in bloom.
It came. It grew. It blossomed! People stopped to admire and inquire. It did not survive a harsh winter. The nursery replaced it. It came …. it grew …. it blossomed …. ditto. The nursery did not offer to replace it and I did not ask when I called to alert them to the fact .
So when I arrived on the west coast twenty years ago and saw them growing in gardens, on boulevards, in nooks and crannies (isn't that a lovely phrase), I was overjoyed.
That feeling has returned each spring ever since.