WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge
Salix acutifolia ‘Moscow Cascade'
acutifolia = short-pointed leaf
Weeping Sharp Leaf Willow
This is a weeping form of the Sharp-leaf willow and it originated in the Moscow Botanical Garden. It was originally named Salix acutifolia 'Pendula', but Russian botanists decided to rename it 'Moscow Cascade', a more appropriate name as it was found there. This selection has arching branches and grows to about 10ft tall and at least 15feet wide. I first saw this willow at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden where it was unlabeled; Professor Julia Kuzovkina from the University of Connecticut told me what it was as she had seen the original plant in Moscow! When I last visited the Westonbirt Arboretum in England I didn't see this beautiful specimen as it had perished!
Young twigs are dark red-purple and mature stems are covered with a vividly white bloom. Leaves, long, narrow, bright green and weeping. They turn bright yellow in Autumn add to the year-round show! Pointed silvery-white catkins to 2in with yellow anthers show early in March-April well before the leaves appear. In autumn the leaves turn bright yellow in a last fling before winter. Very showy in the winter landscape against dark conifers. Grows in full sun; moist, not wet soils; not fussy about pH.
Hardy to Zone 4.
Salix acutifolia 'Pendula' is new to us; shown in mid-Summer
This 5ft branch is growing horizontally along the ground!
It will take us 3-4 years to build up stock and find out how best to grow it.
It came from a plant that was about 8ft high and maybe 15ft wide. The generous people at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden allowed us to take cuttings in exchange for finding out what its name was. I suspected it was allied to acutifolia or daphnoides, but
I had no idea there was a cultivar called 'Pendula', until I asked Dr. Julia Kuzovkina of the University of Connecticut and she told me that in her search for correct cultivar names she came across this but had not listed it in her "2105 Checklist for Cultivars of Salix L., (willow)" by Yulia Kuzovkina. She knew of no one that grew this cultivar. She does list Salix acutifolia 'Pendulifolia', which is not the same thing and maybe be the same as 'Blue Streak' as the leaves weep, not the branches,
Salix acutifolia 'Pendula' at the Westonbirt National Arboretum, UK.
It was misidentified, so we gave them the correct name.
I found this photo in an Internet search and it was shown by an English Nursery as Salix daphnoides and I was told me where the photo came from. So I contacted them and was told they had lost this plant, but had propagated many more before it died. They had the name Salix daphnoides 'Aglaia' on their plant; that is a different species and cultivar.
Six inch long leaves, pointed flower buds and flowers when first open.
The brilliant yellow autumn colour should be spectacular too!
Salix acutifolia 'Pendula' is new to us; shown in mid-Summer
This 5ft branch is growing horizontally along the ground!
It will take us 3-4 years to build up stock and find out how best to grow it.
It came from a plant that was about 8ft high and maybe 15ft wide. The generous people at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden allowed us to take cuttings in exchange for finding out what its name was. I suspected it was allied to acutifolia or daphnoides, but
I had no idea there was a cultivar called 'Pendula', until I asked Dr. Julia Kuzovkina of the University of Connecticut and she told me that in her search for correct cultivar names she came across this but had not listed it in her "2105 Checklist for Cultivars of Salix L., (willow)" by Yulia Kuzovkina. She knew of no one that grew this cultivar. She does list Salix acutifolia 'Pendulifolia', which is not the same thing and maybe be the same as 'Blue Streak' as the leaves weep, not the branches,
Salix acutifolia 'Pendula' at the Westonbirt National Arboretum, UK.
It was misidentified, so we gave them the correct name.
I found this photo in an Internet search and it was shown by an English Nursery as Salix daphnoides and I was told me where the photo came from. So I contacted them and was told they had lost this plant, but had propagated many more before it died. They had the name Salix daphnoides 'Aglaia' on their plant; that is a different species and cultivar.
Six inch long leaves, pointed flower buds and flowers when first open.
The brilliant yellow autumn colour should be spectacular too!
Leaves and dormant catkins to show the size of this selection
Salix acutifolia 'Moscow Weeping' ('Pendula') at the Westonbirt National Arboretum, UK.
I located this photo in an Internet search and it was shown by an English Nursery as Salix daphnoides. I was told where the photo came from: Westonbirt. So I contacted the Arboretum and was told that they had lost this plant, but had propagated many more before it died. They had the name Salix daphnoides 'Aglaia' on their plant; that is a different species and cultivar.
A 5ft branch is growing horizontally along the ground!