Salix gracilistyla6x6' Possibly a hybrid of S. gracilistyla × S. caprea. Male specimen selected in Japan by Dr. Tsuneshige Rokujo. Mount Aso-san is Japan’s largest active volcano.
Pink buds open to electric rosy pink catkins for a stunning early spring display. Excellent in cutflower arrangements. When some plants in our stark warehouse began to reveal their darling daubs of pink, the crew gathered round and cooed as if we’d discovered baby bunnies. Excellent in cut flower arrangements.
Foliage opens pink and turns rich blue-green with prominent veins and soft fuzzy undersides. Catkins form on second-year wood. Coppice just after flowering to keep form pulled in and less rangy. Easy to maintain. Prefers full sun and sandy soils but will do fine in average or moist conditions. Z4. (1-3')
Items from our perennial plants warehouse ordered
on or before March 7 will ship around March 26
through late April, starting with warmer areas and finishing in
colder areas. Orders placed after March 7 will
ship around late April through early-to-mid May, in the order in
which they were received.
ships in spring
7569
‘Mt. Aso’ Japanese Pink Pussy Willow
Additional Information
Small Trees and Shrubs
As Green’s Nursery catalog from 1904 explains, “There are many trees that by pruning can be made to resemble shrubs, and many shrubs that by different pruning may be made to produce medium-sized trees.”
Willows Salix spp.
The genus Salix
comprises hundreds of different species of plants most commonly called
willows but sometimes called
Osier or
Sallow. Willows grow all over the world. Some, like the
weeping willow, are towering specimens. Others are short scrubby bushes;
willows growing in the arctic can be 100 years old but only 2' tall!
Uses
include ornamental landscaping, shade, basketmaking, erosion control,
timber, fuel and medicine. All parts, especially the bark, contain
salicin,
used for relief of pain and fever for hundreds, or even thousands, of
years.
Aspirin is a synthetic analog of salicin. Willows feed local wildlife,
insects and birds. We plant them near the orchard to provide early
season
forage for our native pollinators. All prefer sun and loamy wet soils,
but
are adaptable, easily transplanted and fast growing.
