Broom Day

10 years ago

Started out the day at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. They have a lot of large old cultivars, some I have never heard of before. When I was examining a Picea omorika 'Nana' I noticed a brightly colored broom the size of a baseball growing on one side:

Here's a picture of the mother plant. I have yet to email the Arboretum to see if they already know about the broom.

Later that day, while biking around town I noticed an Abies balsamea broom tucked behind a bunch of branches. At first I was very excited as I have been wanting to find a balsamea broom for awhile, and this one looked especially choice with its widely-spaced miniature needles and formal pyramidal form.

Upon closer inspection I noticed the needles from the top portion of the broom had fallen off. When I touched the portions of branches which still had needles, the needles easily came off.

I noticed the needles on the broom had red spots on the undersides. Does anyone know what this could be? From what I could tell, the mother plant was unaffected by the red spots.

About two blocks away I noticed a nicely-size Picea pungens broom with decent color:

What a day!

Comments (7)

orchidsinduluth
10 years ago
That's great! I just spent 10 days in Colorado and didn't find anything... Must be loosing my touch.
orchidsinduluth
10 years ago
That's great! I just spent 10 days in Colorado and didn't find anything... Must be loosing my touch.
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coniferjoy
10 years ago
Matt, 3 brooms at the same day is great!

The Picea omorika 'Nana' witches' broom has a nice bright colour indeed, however the size if it looks smaller then the size of a baseball...must be the pic...

I think the Abies balsamea broom is infected and will get completely bald in winter time.
It's not possible to propagate this kind of broom...

The Picea pungens broom has a nice colour and shape.
There are a lot of brooms found allready of this species, but remember, this one is yours, it's your find!
Is it in a private garden?
Simoni
10 years ago
Hi Matt,
we congratulations to the findings ....Abies balsamea is try experimenting to graft, but also we think it will be a spongy disease....
L+M S
maple_grove_gw
10 years ago
Congratulations Matt, that's fantastic! You certainly have the eye.

The omorika and pungens brooms look really interesting. From your description, I have to wonder about the viability of the balsamea broom. Maybe the broom is just the manifestation of the disease. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens. That reminds me, what was the outcome with the mistletoe-infected mariana broom you found a few years back?

Also, how high up in the tree is the pungens broom? Will you be able to collect scion wood come winter?

Alex
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
10 years ago
Nice eye, Matt. Is brooming while biking akin to texting while driving? lol

The Abies may have Fir Broom Rust. It would account for the broom itself and the red spots.

tj
dietzjm
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the comments guys.

Josh, where were you in Colorado? If I was brooming in that state I'd be afraid that what I found was already found by Jerry Morris or Nate. ha!

The omorika broom may be slightly smaller than a baseball, but it's pretty close in size. The growth rate is just under 1 inch per year. From my initial contact with the arboretum staff, it doesn't sound like they knew about the broom. Now I'm trying to get approval to collect some scion this winter.

Alex, the pungens broom is reachable with a pole pruners. I don't know if I'll take any cuttings this winter as there are already so many nice brooms of this species. All of the grafts from the dwarf mariana I found started to show signs of EDM and have been destroyed.

Yes Tom, biking while brooming is just as dangerous as driving while texting! If you're ever driving around Madison, be on the look out for a guy riding his bike with his head cranked up looking up at trees...