Flowering broom backdrop to Marble Point Winery

This is another noxious plant that looks attractive in the New Zealand backcountry: broom, Cytisus scoparius. (The first weedy plant was Russell lupin, a couple of days ago).

I used to be responsible for the biological control program against broom in New Zealand, under which we introduced several specialised insects that feed on it from the native range in Europe. Several have established, and have some impact, but broom still covers hillsides that were originally cleared of forest for grazing and have since been de-stocked.

I have taken a number of photographs from around this spot, some years ago before the Marble Point vineyard was established. So as we were driving back from Hanmer Springs, taking my 92-tomorrow-year-old mother for a day out, I thought the vines would make an attractive foreground, improving on my earlier efforts.