Argyrocytisus battandieri (aka Pineapple Broom)

[Hillizard]

Does anyone have experience growing Argyrocytisus battandieri  (aka Pineapple or Moroccan Broom)? I just got one today and based on some online research, it looks to be quite easy to grow and very hardy, in terms of both heat and cold. I do wonder if the flowers actually have a strong pineapple scent? https://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-to-grow-argyrocytisus-battandieri.html

[Palm crazy]

 

I've had one in the ground for 20 years and yes it is very fragrant! The scent is citrus and pineapple. Flowers do not hold up very long as cut flowers. It is so drought tolerant I never have to water it.  New growth is fuzzy and soft like lambs ears.  Good plant for the west coast, maybe as far east as West TX.  Grows into a small tree with many trunks. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Palm crazy

[Hillizard]

  On 3/10/2019 at 2:36 AM, Palm crazy said:

 

I've had one in the ground for 20 years and yes it is very fragrant! The scent is citrus and pineapple. Flowers do not hold up very long as cut flowers. It is so drought tolerant I never have to water it.  New growth is fuzzy and soft like lambs ears.  Good plant for the west coast, maybe as far east as West TX.  Grows into a small tree with many trunks. 

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Great to know! Thanks for sharing your experience with it.  Maybe I'll have blooms within a year!

[Hillizard]

My Argyrocytisus battandieri  (aka Pineapple or Moroccan Broom) that I just got a few weeks ago and planted is already in bloom.  We'll see soon if it truly does have a pineapple scent!

[Palm crazy]

"Well" did it meet your expectations? 

[Hillizard]

  On 5/7/2019 at 9:12 PM, Palm crazy said:

"Well" did it meet your expectations? 

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Yep, you were right. Each of them had the definite aroma of ripe pineapple. I look forward to the day when this plant has dozens (hundreds?) of blooms and scents the air around it, but I'm already seeing snail/slug damage on the leaves. Hope that's temporary. BTW, this plant came from the nursery grafted on Laburnum rootstock which I guess confers more vigor?

[Palm crazy]

Great, I've never seen any up here that have a bloom that small before so maybe the Grafted on Laburnum rootstock helps with that. You may regret planting close to the house in the future? This is a tall flowering shrub to 12'-18' tall that suckers at the base, the more it suckers the more blooms you get.  They hate to be moved after a year or two. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by Palm crazy

[Hillizard]

  On 5/13/2019 at 12:27 AM, Palm crazy said:

Great, I've never seen any up here that have a bloom that small before so maybe the Grafted on Laburnum rootstock helps with that. You may regret planting close to the house in the future? This is a tall flowering shrub to 12'-18' tall that suckers at the base, the more it suckers the more blooms you get.  They hate to be moved after a year or two. 

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That picture is misleading... that's the tall concrete foundation for the wooden fence on one side of my property, so the pineapple broom is not actually planted next to my house. I hope the blooms get larger in size as the plant matures. To conserve space I plant in tiers, so this is closer to the wall and beneath a tree-scale Erythrina x bidwillii that will outgrow it each year. Plus both of those plants can handle pruning if they start to grow out of bounds or crowd each other.

[Palm crazy]

Good to know, I shouldn't have second guess the planting site! LOL.  After their done blooming that is when the real growth starts. 

[SpringHill]

Hillizard,

Very curious to find out where you found your on-line source for the Argyrocytisus Pineapple Broom. Can't seem to find it anywhere.

Thanks

[Hillizard]

My Argyrocytisus battandieri ('pineapple broom') is finally starting to gain some height. It apparently enjoyed the NorCal winter weather and now has multiple blooms with that distinctive ripe pineapple scent.  I'll use the trellis as support for now. I think I located the original supplier via a query on the Plant Lust website.🍍

[Hillizard]

I'm training my 'Pineapple Broom' (Argyrocytisus battandieri) on a trellis and it did well over this past winter. More blooms this year than last. Has the great scent of ripe pineapples.

[Hillizard]

This is my 'Atlas Broom'' or 'Moroccan Broom' ( Argyrocytisus battandieri) this week on my trellis facing south. It's done well and handles the high and low temps here in interior NorCal without complaint. It is flexible and easily trained on the trellis. Flowers have the very nice scent of ripe pineapple too.😁 It's nursery-grafted on Laburnum rootstock for more vigor.

At the same time, beside it I am testing Lonicera sempervirens ''Major Wheeler' honeysuckle and 'Orange Trumpet Vine' (Pyrostegia venusta). Neither of them is doing very well for me in this location.

In the foreground is Senna artemisioides, ssp. filifolia ('silver cassia').