Butcher's Broom in the Garden

I recently acquired Ruscus aculeatus, commonly called Butcher's Broom, for my woodland garden. A spot near a tree needed an evergreen to provide some winter interest. Historically, butchers used this plant to make brooms for their shops, thus the name. Butcher's Broom grows to about two to three feet, with small stiff leaves terminating with single, sharp spines. Because of its height, another common name is Knee Holly. 

When I first saw the plant at the nursery, I eyed the prickly leaves with doubt. One needs thick gloves to handle this plant! However, the dark green, lustrous leaves are quite beautiful, reminiscent of holly leaves, although Butcher's Broom is in the lily family, not holly. What won me over are the berries: bright red and marble-sized!

A native to southern England, Butcher's broom grows in US hardiness zones 7 - 9. It loves moist, well-drained situations, but it adapts to most soils and is drought-tolerant. It is an excellent choice for woodlands, enjoying partial to full shade. Small greenish-white flowers are produced in spring. Traditionally, one needed both male and female plants for berry production, but there are now hermaphrodite forms available that have both stamens and pistils (the male and female parts) on the same plant. This is the type I was fortunate to find for my own garden. The flowers are followed by large berries that ripen to scarlet red in September, then provide a cheerful decorative note to the garden all the way into January.

Butcher's Broom will happily survive neglect. Old leaves will turn to brown skeletons after several years, and one may want to remove them, but otherwise little care is needed. New leaves will have grown to take the place of old ones. The plant will slowly spread by rhizomes and may eventually form a small colony.

I put my Butcher's Broom close to a path in the woodlands so I can enjoy it on my walks, but left plenty of room for it to expand without endangering visitors with its sharp leaf-tips. I think an evergreen fern would make a great companion, so I plan to place a native holly fern nearby. I am fortunate that here in Alabama the ground does not freeze in winter, so on a pretty day I can get out and plant in the garden!

Edgeworthia, a Delightful, Easy-Care Shrub

Just three years ago I purchased an Edgeworthia chrysantha, also called Chinese Paperbush. This deciduous shrub was a small thing at the time, about a foot tall, but I was captivated by its sphere of tubular flowers, reminding me of a little girl's white tutu with frilly yellow petticoats.So far I have nothing but good things to say about this plant, which provides multi-seasonal interest with little work from me. My Edgeworthia, though not yet a mature specimen, has already grown into a delightful shrub whose architectural form, cinnamon-colored stems and soft fuzzy leaves, six inches or more in length, are already making a statement in the garden.The shrub is often advertised as growing to 5 feet, but it can grow in an umbrella shape up to 8 feet tall by 10 feet wide, so I have left plenty of room for it. My three year old Edgeworthia has already grown to about four feet tall and wide.

This public domain photo shows a mature Edgeworthia laden with silver buds.As beautiful as Edgeworthia is during the growing season, the most outstanding feature has to be its fragrant flowers. Tight silver buds begin to swell with the approach of winter, and the flowers bloom on the tips of naked branches in late winter through early spring. They appear at the same time as those of its cousin, Daphne odora. Both shrubs are members of the Thymelaecea family. Sometimes Edgeworthia is call Yellow Daphne. The silver outer surface of its long-lasting blooms are furry in appearance, while the insides of the tubules are waxy. The wonderful spicy fragrance will have you sniffing, but you have to get down and look upward to appreciate the full beauty of the nodding blooms.

This has been a trouble-free shrub for me. I have not done anything to it since I planted it, except to apply a fish emulsion solution to it in early spring. I planted it in in partial shade under the high branches of an oak tree. Edgeworthia prefers well-drained soil, but for best flower production it needs plenty of moisture during the growing season. If established in soil high in organic matter, it is fairly drought tolerant. It also is deer resistant. It grows well in hardiness zones 7-9, and it may survive in protected areas of zone 6. 

There are several cultivars of this shrub, some having orange or red blooms. Edgeworthia papyrifera is very similar, though smaller and generally not as fragrant nor as hardy as E. chrysantha.