The Guileless Charm of Pussy Willows....Skip the Water for Long-Lasting Beauty Indoors

Along with sweet peas and pumpkins, pussy willows are a lifelong pleasure - I remember loving them as a child and I love them now. Pussy willows (Salix discolor or maybe Salix caprea) which grew so thickly along the creek in my childhood garden in Lake Forest Park, may be the first plant I ever really noticed. I used to pull off the furry buds (actually, the male catkins) and carry them around in my pocket - I still do sometimes...

So when my neighbor in Langley - thank you, Marcia -  invited me over to cut pussy willows off a sprawling, half-fallen over tree in a ravine behind her house (where we could easily reach them, thank goodness...usually such a challenge with big old bushes....), I was right over there, clippers in hand.

Well-furred, nicely puffed, winter-on-a-stick..it's a perfect time to cut pussy willows and bring them indoors.

If you put pussy willows in water, they'll swell, split open and go to seed. So forget the water; they last  nearly forever if you simply stick the branches in a dry pot or vase.

Don't expect elegant line from stiff pussy willow branches. They're awkward, thick, graceless, which is part of their guileless charm.  Just prune them out a bit, get rid of twigginess, and mass enough branches in a heavy vase so that you end up with plenty of the velvety, pearly gray buds....and enjoy...

Comments

[Chris]

What a gorgeous photo of "winter on a stick" bouquet! :)Love it!