I found this shrub with very interesting fern like leaves
Amur Tamarisk, Salt Cedar, or Tamarix ramossissima, is a hardy non native shrub that can tolerate low winter temperatures (-45c) and requires little watering once established. It is also remarkably salt tolerant.
It prefers full sun and can be pruned back quite hard during winter to keep the plant at your preferred size. They grow to about 3-4 m high and 2-3 m wide in Toronto. They grow twice as big in the warmer states southwest of the border.
They flower over summer with hundreds of fine stems covered in pale pink blooms at the end of the branches. As you noted, they have ferny, asparagus like foliage.
Tamarix sound like a perfect plant, but the downside is that they are highly invasive in many parts of North America. They spread by dispersing their abundant seeds and also by suckering- sending up new growth from underground roots. If left unpruned they can form many stemmed thickets.
The Ontario Invasive Plant Council has not put this shrub on its invasive plant list, but warns that it ‘can be invasive in natural settings’, which means it is possible to grow it in a garden setting as long as you dont live close to a ravine, green space or park where it could become an issue.
I have seen a few lovely specimens in Toronto that have been kept well pruned and they have put on a great floral display each summer.
July 4, 2024