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Salix discolor |
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| | Buds encased in ice after a December bout of freezing rain |
| Common name |
pussy willow |
| Family |
salicaceae |
| Life cycle |
shrub |
| Flowers |
catkins in early spring |
| Cultural notes |
prefers moist soil |
Even though this is a bit of a one-season wonder, we enjoy having it in our garden, just for the early-spring cheer. By mid-March, the reddish buds start opening to reveal the grayish-white fuzzy catkins inside. The leaves don't come until later, after the pussies have finished their show. Another steadfast feature of this plant: it's a magnet for Japanese beetles. Every year, by the time I spot the first of the foul creatures elsewhere in the garden, I can be sure that the pussy willow is already under full-scale attack. I don't know if that's good (makes it easier kill a whole bunch of the beetles all at once) or bad (attracts beetles from all over the neighborhood).
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| | Cool transition from the silvery-fuzzy to the golden stage - with a little red thrown in |
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| One day in late summer, I noticed a large number of bulbous growths on the stems of our pussy willow, with new twig growth continuing from the thickened parts. I did some research, and found that these galls are the work of the willow beaked gall midge, a small fly whose larvae grow inside the woody galls until they mature and emerge as adults in spring. I investigated one of the galls, cracking open its woody interior, but could not find any sign of a larva inside. Perhaps I needed a microscope to see what I was looking for. Supposedly the galls are unlikely to seriously affect our willow, so I'm just going to leave them be.
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
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