Laburnum musical instruments. In addition to such wind instruments as recorders and flutes, it was a popular wood for Great Highland Bagpipes before taste turned to imported dense tropical hardwoods such as "Brya ebenus" (cocus wood), ebony, and "Dalbergia melanoxylon" (African monkeywood). The heart-wood of a laburnum may be used as a substitute for ebony or rosewood. It is very hard and a dark chocolate brown, with a butter-yellow sapwood. "Laburnum" species and hybrids are cultivated as ornamental trees for gardens and parks. They are also trained as espaliers on pergolas, for ceilings of pendant flowers in season. In its natural
Operation Flowers are Blooming Operation Flowers are Blooming Operation Flowers are Blooming was the name of an operation by the Indian Navy to help avert a threatened coup against the government of President France-Albert René in the Seychelles in 1986. During the 1980s there were several coup attempts against René. In 1981, the South African security services famously organised an attempted coup against René by a group of 44 white mercenaries led by Colonel “Mad” Mike Hoare. Other coups were also planned by elements in René’s regime, among Seychellois exiles in Britain, South Africa and Australia and by anti-communists in Pretoria and Washington. President