Broom flower

“The Broom Flower” is a poem by Mary Howitt.

Oh the Broom, the yellow Broom, The ancient poet sung it, And dear it is on summer days To lie at rest among it.

Also known as Broom Bloom, Cytisus scoparius has stiff woody stems with dried flower blossoms resembling Baby's Breath. When dried, the flower appears natural as soft tan, but is often dyed: basil, burgundy, hunter green, navy, raspberry, red, royal blue, slate blue, violet, and yellow/gold.

Broom flower is also known in floral shops as Genistra, where it’s mostly used as a filler flower. They say it’s Sweet smelling.

Resources: http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/poem1/blp_howitt_broom_flower.htm http://www.driedflowersdirect.com/dried-flowers/broom.htm http://www.ataflowers.com/flowerguide.asp

Photo: http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~ericwan/WildFlowers/Images/broom.jpg