It may seem surprising to many that the willow bush has nothing to do with the one sung in songs. These are completely different botanical families and they have different features. You can read about this unusual plant, which is called the willow bush, in this article.
Broom genus
This genus includes the yellow acacia, familiar to everyone since childhood, which is quite actively growing and blooming densely. From her tender pods, many made whistles, sounding good and loud.
About 60 species of the broom genus are known. The willow bush is quite popular among gardeners. Its distribution, except for Russia, is noted in Africa, Europe and Asia.
There are certain differences between ordinary acacia and broom. In the yellow acacia (tree-like caragana), related to other acacias only in the same family (legumes), the leaves are several pairs of small leaves. And the broom often has trifoliate leaves, located on the stem in the next order.
Rockit bush: photo
Broom moth-shaped flowers close tobranches during the flowering period, almost hide its small leaves from the eyes. Moreover, the flowers are good at attracting the attention of insects, but the sharp thorns located on the branches keep enemies away from the bushes.
In Italy, the broom is called Colliers' Gorse because it often grows near coal mines. Next, we will describe the willow bush in a little more detail.
Description
Broom is a genus of deciduous shrubs, less often small trees from the legume family. They are mostly deciduous, semi- or evergreens, some with small spines.
Brooms are excellent honey plants, but many varieties are poisonous. The height of the plant varies greatly depending on the growth conditions and species: the largest ones reach 4-5 meters, the middle ones - 2 meters, the lowest grow up to 0.5 meters. There are also creeping plants of this species, the growth of which reaches about 20 cm.
Rockit bush has small leaves on flexible thin branches. They are triple or solitary in shape. Some of them start blooming in spring (early or late) and others in summer.
Similar in shape to pea flowers of broom, beautiful, collected in axillary brushes: a large upper petal like a sail, two narrow elongated side petals like wings and two lower small petals fused into a shuttle. They decorate the broom for a month. Their color is the most diverse, depending on the species and hybrid: yellow, white, pink, purple, red. Found in nature andbicolor varieties.
And the smell is different for different types of flowers: pleasant, sharp, subtle. Flowering under the most favorable conditions for the growth of the broom is so plentiful that its flowers completely hide the branches of the bush.
The most common varieties
In nature, the willow bush has several varieties. Type classification:
- The broom has green glossy branches, which are covered with numerous yellow flowers in May-June.
- Russian broom is a fairly popular ornamental shrub that grows up to 2 meters high with an abundance of yellow moth flowers.
- Spanish gorse, or Spanish broom is a lush shrub, covered all summer with racemose inflorescences of very fragrant yellow flowers.
Other species: hybrids
Rockit bush happens, as noted above, with flowers of other colors unexpected for this plant. They are all broom hybrids.
Some of them are briefly presented below.
- Early broom has slightly curved, drooping branches. It blooms in spring with one of the first bright yellow fragrant flowers. There are varieties of this species with other flower colors.
- Oblong broom is a medium-sized shrub (1.5 m), blooming in June with golden yellow flowers.
- White broom is a small shrub that blooms with white flowers in spring.
- Emer willow bushsmall in size (about 70 cm), begins to bloom in May with bright yellow flowers.
- Purple broom - a prostrate shrub with purple flowers and growing up to 30 cm. It usually blooms in May-June.
- Regensburg is one of the smallest species (up to 30 cm), upright. Single, collected in small inflorescences of several pieces, the flowers have 2 shades of yellow (thick yellow and pale yellow) with reddish-brown inclusions.
- Moroccan is the tallest (up to 5 meters), it has large leaves and dense yellow inflorescences with an aroma reminiscent of pineapple.
- Creeping broom - the smallest (up to 10 cm) with golden yellow flowers and pubescent leaves.
A little about the features of growing broom
The willow bush is unpretentious. It tolerates both high and low temperatures equally well, but still prefers to grow in lighter sunny places.
Brooms, depending on the species, can grow in both calcareous and acidic soil. Even sandy, infertile soil is suitable for shrubs, but loose and with good drainage. In the case of growing bushes in flower pots, regular watering is required. And the plant growing in the open ground is resistant to drought and practically does not require watering. Potted crops should be fed with organic matter once every two months, and top dressing should be combined with the next watering.
In general, broom bushes look great, especially during the flowering period in any urban park areas and home gardens. They areare the perfect bright addition to any landscaping.
