{"id":60,"date":"2007-09-25T06:20:57","date_gmt":"2007-09-25T14:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=60"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:25","slug":"mystery-broom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/mystery-broom\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Broom"},"content":{"rendered":"

MYSTERY BROOM
\n<\/font><\/font><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are attuned to plants, you never know when you’ll encounter a plant identification mystery.\u00a0 My daughter and I found one last week while we were out for a walk on a local side street.\u00a0 We were passing a house that sat on a corner lot atop a slight embankment.\u00a0 The owners had planted various shrubs and perennials on the embankment, probably for erosion control as well as appearance.\u00a0 We both noticed a three foot tall shrub whose arching branches bore small, rosy purple flowers.\u00a0 The blooms looked like tiny butterflies and the total effect was airy and delicate.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “It looks like broom,”\u009d said my daughter with authority.\u00a0 She was right and I was pleased.\u00a0 She has been exposed to the fundamentals of plant identification since she was tiny, and though she disdains any mention of a horticultural career, she has acquired a lot of knowledge.\u00a0 Her identification was based on the overall size and shape of the plant and the configuration of the flowers as well as the appearance of the small, oval-shaped leaves characteristic of brooms and other members of the pea or legume family.\u00a0 We have both seen lots of yellow-flowered broom or Cytisus scoparius at various garden centers, but neither of us had ever encountered a purple-flowered specimen.\u00a0 “You’ll have to look it up when we get home,”\u009d she added.\u00a0 I had my marching orders.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only thing that bothered me about this particular purported broom was the bloom time.\u00a0 Common broom, which is sometimes called “Scotch”\u009d broom, generally blooms in the spring.\u00a0 Blossoms in late summer didn’t seem to fit the plant profile.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For some reason I have never grown broom in my own garden.\u00a0 I have other yellow-flowered shrubs, like forsythia, winter-flowering jasmine and Japanese kerria, but no cheerful Cytisus scoparius.\u00a0 When I think about it, it’s probably because brooms, like forsythia, are really only interesting when they are in bloom.\u00a0 Since I am a lazy gardener with limited space, I gravitate towards plants that can provide more than just a few weeks of fleeting blossoms and a weedy growth habit.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Research confirmed the initial identification.\u00a0 Cytisus scoparius is available in rosy purple as well as orange and shades of the usual yellow.\u00a0 As for the odd bloom time, there is an easy explanation.\u00a0 Scotch broom blooms in the spring on old wood and can bloom again later in the season on new growth.\u00a0 Evidently the broom that we saw had decided on the latter course of action. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As is frequently the case with these small-scale plant mysteries, my broom research opened the door to a much larger issue.\u00a0 That issue was invasiveness. \u00a0<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Broom is native to northern and central Europe as well as the Mediterranean region.\u00a0 It probably arrived in this country during the late eighteenth century with the colonists, who used the stiff stalks for broom making.\u00a0 Allegedly, shipments of whiskey sent to the “forty-niner’s”\u009d during the California gold rush were cushioned with bundles of broom.\u00a0 Seeds attached to those bundles germinated, bringing broom into the western United States and Canada, where it has become a major plant pest.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Like all invasive species, broom is a victim of its own vigorous nature.\u00a0 States and counties have long planted it on highway embankments for erosion control because its strong roots hold the soil in place, and it spreads rapidly to cover erosion-prone areas.\u00a0 Unfortunately, in the West broom outcompetes just about everything else, creating a monoculture in many places.\u00a0 Invasive plant websites are full of information about broom eradication, which can be difficult and time consuming.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So where does this leave gardeners who might want to grow Cytisus scoparius?\u00a0 Nurseries, even some in western states, still sell it, though at least one warns purchasers to “remove seed heads”\u009d to curb rampant tendencies.\u00a0 If you live in the West, the answer is obvious–don’t buy broom unless you are absolutely positive that the species or cultivar you purchase is non-invasive.\u00a0 Easterners have more latitude, since climatic conditions in the East don’t seem as favorable for this attractive shrub.\u00a0 However, it’s still better to buy something like Burkwood’s broom, Cytisus scoparius burkwoodii, which may be the cultivar that my daughter and I saw.\u00a0 It’s buds open nearly red and fade to a purplish hue, and it does not have the invasive tendencies of some of its relatives.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I first saw the mysterious broom, I had the urge to rush out and buy one for my garden.\u00a0 Now I think I’ll pass on this particular plant, even though the flowers are beautiful.\u00a0 By spurning broom I can accomplish two things–contributing to a healthier ecosystem and disproving my husband’s assertion that I buy every new plant that I see. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MYSTERY BROOM \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are attuned to plants, you never know when you’ll encounter a plant identification mystery.\u00a0 My daughter and I found one last week while we were out for a walk on a local side street.\u00a0 We were passing a house that sat on a corner lot atop a slight embankment.\u00a0 The … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1718,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/1718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}