Colutea Copper Beauty or Bladder Senna

Colutea Copper Beauty is vigorous, deciduous shrub with pinnate green leaves and bright orange pea-type flowers that mature into long bronze pods. It’s a good choice for informal mixed borders and low maintenance gardens.

Colutea are a family of shrubs native to Africa and across to Asia. They are often called Bladder Senna and grow wild in many non-native countries including the UK where it’s often seen along railway embankments. Colutea Copper Beauty is a variety with traditional pinnate blue-green leaves and bright orange pea-type flowers. The blooms are veined orange-red and have yellow centres. In late summer they mature to bladder-like eight-centimetre long red-purple seed pods. The pods are excellent in dried flower arrangements unless children pop them first.

This is an interesting easy-grow shrub with a blast of exciting colour in the summer months.

Height And Spread of Colutea Copper Beauty
Bladder Sienna grows to a maximum height and spread of 3 metres over 10-20 years.

How Hardy Is Colutea Copper Beauty
It’s very hardy in the UK with well-drained roots and does well in poor soils during droughts.

How To Use Colutea Copper Beauty
If you love bright colours this will certainly brighten up a mixed border from spring to late summer. It’s a good choice for coastal gardens, and it will grow in a large well-watered and fed container to brighten up a dull balcony garden too.
The interesting seeds pods are universally loved by children and make long lasting flower displays when dried out.
Bees love the bright flowers too, so its suits a low maintenance wildlife friendly garden.
Colutea is an easy-grow brightly coloured shrub with lots to offer. It suits most spaces.

How To Care For Colutea Copper Beauty
This easy-care shrub needs very little in return for lots of interest. Plant it in well-drained soil of any type. Bladder Sienna is not fussy about chalk or sand, but it does need full sun to partial shade. The more sun this shrub gets, the more it will flower.
Pruning isn’t required. You can leave it to its own devices, or if you’d like to maintain its height, cut away excess growth in winter and remove any crossed branches.
Water it well until you see new growth and apply a thick layer of mulch to the roots in early spring. Put container grown specimens on pot feet for good drainage. Colutea does not like soggy roots.