After two dreary months of overcast skies – full-blown May Gray and June Gloom – I was amazed to come outside this morning to discover that our Gold Medallion tree (Cassia leptophylla) had exploded like a firework display into spectacular yellow blooms. It just took a few afternoons of warm summer sun to do the trick. Only in the last generation or so have these hardy, tropical Brazilian trees in the pea family proliferated in Southern California and now you see them everywhere from city streets to back yards.