Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Ruscus aculeatus ‘Christmas Berry’



Ruscus aculeatus, the butcher’s broom of old books, is nothing new in this garden: it’s been here for decades. The original form grown here is the one distributed by Woodlanders as ‘Wheeler’s’.  There are ten plants, and not a one of them has ever been particularly reliable about fruiting. ‘Elizabeth Lawrence’ and ‘Christmas Berry’ were acquired a few years ago: these fruit heavily and can be very ornamental. That's 'Christmas Berry' in the image above. 

These are definitely not plants to cuddle up to: they are unpleasantly spiny, the dried pieces sold for Christmas decoration being especially so.

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