Cassia bicapsularis 'Buttercream' prophouse-on-the-horizon The tree earns a place

The tree earns a place in the working landscape as much as the garden

a filler in a shaded border

and the species name fraterna means brotherly

The dark green leaves are sandpapery to the touch

Trim lightly after flowering to keep the mound neat

Cassia bicapsularis 'Buttercream' prophouse-on-the-horizon The tree earns a place'Buttercream' is a pale yellow flowered form of Cassia bicapsularis, a softer, more refined take on that shrub's late season show. Where the species blazes a saturated gold, 'Buttercream' carries clusters of cool, buttery cream yellow flowers through autumn and into early winter, the same butterfly like blooms at the ends of fast, arching branches, and the same draw for Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange butterflies that feed and breed on the plant.