Sweet Broom

For homeowners wondering what happened to the cacti garden planned for the whiskey barrels, this is an update for what is going on with that project.  As you may or may not know, Tucson suffered an extreme freeze this winter causing me to lose most of my cacti and succulent transplants.  Basically I have to start over from scratch and in April, I'll be heading up to Phoenix to restock our cacti around the property.  For now, I have placed sweet broom in the 10 whiskey barrels which will give us something to look at as we drive towards our places.  I have not given up the cacti garden idea.....it's just on hold until there is more money and more transplants to work with......the sweet broom was on sale this past weekend and there was a little money to spare to fill up the barrels for the time being.  Here are some pics of what it looks like......

As for sweet broom, it is a loved or hated plant depending on what part of the country you live in.  In the Pacific Northwest, it's invasive and even banned in some states. I was laughing as I watched people buy this plant in the bunches.  If they only knew how much this plant was hated in those states.......one homeowner actually had it out for another neighbor who put this plant in their yard in Washington state.  Ahhhh good times!  In fact, last weekend, both Home Depot and Lowe's ran out of this plant within the first day!!  I had actually been there during the delivery so I was lucky to snag 10 of them.  It's just amazing how many people have off during spring break.  Here in Arizona, this plant is limited to where it can grow because our ground is too hard.  It likes sun and is hardy up to 20 degrees.  It has an arching habit.  It needs to be watered once a week once established.  They were $3.30 per plant so it was not an expense getting those barrels filled quickly.  In my opinion, the barrels are an eyesore without some sort of plant in them.  Hang tight as I get some really nice cacti specimens organized for the cacti garden over the summer.