Collections: The Witches’ Broom

A ‘Hexen-Besen’ or Witches' Broom is an area of abnormally high branching with abnormally low stem elongation on shrubs and trees.  In conifers, this is generally due to genetic changes.  Seeds from these naturally occurring Witches’ Brooms are used to develop new cultivars of dwarf conifers. Most of the Bartlett’s witches’ brooms are cultivars developed by the University of Connecticut’s late Dr. Sidney Waxman.  Over his long career, Dr. Waxman extensively studied Witches’ Brooms and selected 34 distinctive cultivars, which he named and introduced to the nursery trade.