A profusion of showy, silvery flower catkins make a beautiful display in the landscape for over a month beginning in mid-January here in ...Read MoreBoston Z6a. Like pussy willow (Salix caprea), but the catkins are twice the size and produced in greater profusion. The color isn't just silver, but has a variable infusion of pink to rose as well. Great for cutting, too.
A well-kept secret, this plant has the showiest flower display of all the willows, and in the middle of winter, to boot! Unlike pussy willow (Salix caprea), it doesn't require yearly stooling to keep it from becoming a tree. Responds well to pruning in late winter after the flowers fade.
Easy to propagate. I just take 12" cuttings after leaf drop in the fall and before the flower buds open, and stick them deep in the soil of a vegetable bed with only the topmost buds aboveground. They root themselves.
I see the cultivar 'Melanostachys' often offered by mail order nurseries. This has tiny black catkins which are invisible in the landscape, though in arrangements they're certainly unique.
A wonderful shrub, and one that's far too rarely seen in gardens.
This blooms in winter here---it's often in full bloom by January 15, and the display is over before the end of February. In some hard winters, it may bloom as late as March.
A profusion of showy, silvery flower catkins make a beautiful display in the landscape for over a month beginning in mid-January here in ...Read More