Wheeler's Ruscus or Butcher's Broom. This exceptional plant which was formerly in the lily family, Liliaceae, has now been broken off into the Asparagus family, Asparagaceae. It makes a dwarf evergreen shrub to 20-30" tall and is adorned with HUGE red berries on the surface of its "leaves." Well, not really. Botanists tell us that it does not have leaves, but rather flattened stems called cladophylls. Could have fooled me. The best way to describe this plant is that it looks like green plastic. It loves dry shade. Normally this species is dioecious, with separate male and female plants, but this selection is self-fertile, producing fruit without a pollinator. A real "traffic stopper". It can be divided, or it also comes true from seed. They are so slow from seed that you can leave them in your will for your great-great-grandchildren to enjoy. But even when grown from seed, they retain their self-fertile properties. These plants are probably the most deer-resistant plants that we grow, and the ones that we offer have multiple stems and could even be divided. Divide while dormant, probably from October to February.
Zones 7-9
