Since commissioning a Resource Assessment Audit by Rev

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The word “witches’ broom” translates directly from the German word “hexenbesen.” “Hex” means bewitched and “besom” means a bundle of twigs bound together to form a sweeping implement. This is much like the appearance of a witches’ broom growing in a tree.

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The wind, the cold and the 100 feet between the snow-covered ground and the Witch’s Broom created a dramatic setting for Carl Foley’s daring adventure.

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Francie Bickelhaupt Hill and Randy Dykstra hold newly cropped St. Clare conifers.

In 1910, when the Sisters of St. Francis acquired the property now known as Mount St. Clare, it was called "Evergreen Bluff" and it was home to over 800 trees planted by the original owner, Dr. J. S. Corbin, a Clinton physician and self-made horticulturalist.

By 1911 they had begun construction of their motherhouse and academy. More building ensued as Mount St. Clare College, now Ashford University, expanded. But always the Sisters have attempted to save as many of the original trees as possible, trees that Francie Bickelhaupt Hill, coordinator of Clinton's Bickelhaupt Arboretum, refers to as "pristine specimens of horticulture."

Thus it was to the Arboretum and its founder, Bob Bickelhaupt, that former congregational president Maria Zeimen OSF turned before allowing construction of a new parking lot in the early '90s.

A biologist herself, Maria recognized the unusual growth atop one of the trees slated for destruction. Bickelhaupt and Fulton, Ill., horticulturalist Gary Kopf confirmed her guess: the 100-foot white pine located near the northeast corner of the property contained a "Witch's Broom" - indeed, it contains two "brooms."

"A Witch's Broom" is an abnormal, twiggy and unusually dense growth in an otherwise normal tree. So unusual is this tree and its "Witch's Brooms" that it has been catalogued by the American Conifer Society who labeled it "Mt. St. Clare No. 1 and No. 2."

The most prominent "broom" sits atop the towering pine. Estimated to weigh 300 to 400 pounds, the Broom sways precariously on days like March 7, 2002, when the wind sweeps down the bluff toward the Mississippi River.

Carl Foley, owner of Foley Tree Care, Clinton, voluntarily rode 60 feet up in the bucket of his truck lift and then handled a pruning shears at the end of a 40-foot pole to capture scions (cuttings) from the Broom.

The cuttings were grafted to white pine potted-rootstock by Randy Dykstra, Heartland Garden, Fulton, Ill., one of the leading Midwest authorities on conifers. Dykstra, is widely known for his uncanny ability to find Witch's Brooms and successfully propagate them.

When growth is well underway, the original stock is removed to preserve the genetic character of the new plant, in this case the dwarf conifer to be known as "St. Clare's Broom."

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Randy Dykstra’s hand beside the baby conifers shows how fragile they still are.

Dykstra thinks the MSC tree is the highest broom from which cuttings have been taken. "I always wanted to try it, " he said, "but I knew I couldn't climb it. Carl Foley made it possible."

All of the grafts - 100% of the cuttings - have been successful. "That is remarkable and very rare," said Hill.

The new plants are now counted as two-year olds. They take on the age of the rootstock that nourished them.

The entire project is under the direction of Bickelhaupt Arboretum, the site of the Heartland Collection - one of the top ten collections of rare and dwarf conifers in the nation. The Arboretum was named one of the ten best lawns in the Midwest in April 2003.

Marilyn Huegerich OSF, former President, has indicated her intent to take a St. Clare's Broom to Assisi, Italy, the birthplace of St. Clare and St. Francis. "We will contact the Poor Clare Sisters at Santa Chiara, their motherhouse in Assisi, and offer them one of the new plants," she said. "Of course" she added," we have to wait two or three years, until the dwarf conifers are old enough to travel!"