We are sold out of both of these items
WILLOWS ~ SALIX ~ IN THE PLANT FAMILY SALICACEAE
WHY WILLOWS ARE SO SPECIAL!
70-135 MILLION YEARS AGO, DWARF WILLOWS DOMINATED THE WOODY FLORA.
WILLOWS CAN BE ALPINES, ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS OR HUGE TREES.
350+/- DIFFERENT SPECIES
NATIVE WILLOWS ARE FOUND IN EVERY US STATE EXCEPT HAWAII
AND EVERY CANADIAN PROVINCE
WILLOWS ARE NATIVE TO MOST TEMPERATE REGIONS,
ALPINE, ARCTIC AND EVEN SOME TROPICAL REGIONS
INCLUDING SOUTH EAST ASIA AND SOUTH AFRICA
THERE ARE NO WILLOW NATIVE TO HAWAII, AUSTRALIA,
NEW ZEALAND AND THE OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDS
THERE ARE AT LEAST 1500 HYBRIDS AND CULTIVARS WORLDWIDE
THE TERM 'PUSSY WILLOW' COMES FROM THE APPEARANCE OF MALE CATKINS
BEING SIMILAR TO THOSE OF CATS' PAWS!
SOME WILLOWS GROW OVER 100FT TALL, SOME GROW ONLY ONE INCH TALL
WILLOWS ARE EASY TO PROPAGATE, EASY TO GROW AND EASY TO PRUNE.
CUTTINGS 1FT TO 20 FT LONG WILL ROOT IF GIVEN WATER.
WILLOWS SELF-PROPAGATE BY SEED, STEM FRAGMENTATION AND ROOT SUCKERS
WILLOW CATKINS OR AMENTS HAVE SLIM, CYLINDRICAL FLOWER CLUSTERS (SPIKES), WITH NO PETALS AND ARE INSECT POLLINATED. THEY CONTAIN MANY USUALLY UNISEXUAL FLOWERS, ARRANGED CLOSELY ALONG A CENTRAL STEM.
WILLOWS HAVE MALE AND FEMALE CATKINS ON SEPARATE PLANTS (DIOCIOUS)
RARELY MALE AND FEMALE ORGANS ARE FOUND
IN THE SAME CATKIN (ANDROGYNOUS); USUALLY IN HYBRID WILLOWS
CATKINS OR AMENTS) MAY BE WHITE, BLACK, GRAY, SILVER, PINK OR RED
AND OFTEN CHANGE COLOR FROM WHEN THEY FIRST APPEAR TO MATURITY
SOME WILLOWS FLOWER BEFORE THE LEAVES APPEAR (PUSSY WILLOWS);
THE TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THIS IS PRECOCIOUS
PUSSY WILLOWS CAN BE COPPICED EVERY YEAR AND WILL BLOOM NEXT SPRING
SOME WILLOWS PRODUCE CATKINS ON SHORT LEAFY GROWTHS;
THE TERM TO DESCRIBE THIS IS COETANEOUS
THESE WILLOWS TAKE SEVERAL YEARS TO FLOWER AFTER PLANTING OR COPPICING
MALE CATKINS HAVE BOTH NECTAR AND POLLEN
BEES HARVESTED BOTH NECTAR AND POLLEN SINCE THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD.
BOTH MAKE GREAT TASTING HONEY. ONE OF THE BEST FOOD SOURCES FOR EAGER BEES
WILLOWS ARE NOTORIOUS PHILANDERERS; POLLENATING INSECTS TRAVEL
BETWEEN CATKINS OF ANY SPECIES IN BLOOM. THIS CAN CREATE PROGENY WITH
MIXED PARENTAGE AND A NIGHTMARE FOR TAXONOMISTS
GROW ALMOST ANYWHERE, EVEN POOR AND POLLUTED SOILS
MOST WILLOWS WILL GROWN IN EVERY US STATE, EXCEPT ALPINE WILLOWS
MOST WILLOWS WILL GROW IN CANADA RELATIVELY NEAR THE USA BORDER
MOST WILLOWS ARE NOT EATEN BY DEER AND OTHER RUMINANTS
DEER WILL NOT EAT SALIX PURPUREA AND SALIX TRIANDRA
A DENSE WILLOW FENCE/FEDGE WILL KEEP DEER OUT
VARIEGATED WILLOWS TURN GREEN WHEN GROWN IN SHADE!
GREAT LONG-LASTING CUT FLOWERS AND BRIGHT COLORED STEMS
FOR WINTER DISPLAYS; INSIDE OR OUT
ONE OF FIRST WOODY PLANT TO FLOWER IN SPRING
ONE OF LAST TREES TO LOSE ITS LEAVES IN AUTUMN
ONE BLOOMS OCTOBER THROUGH APRIL ('Winter Glory')
WILLOWS HAVE YEAR-ROUND INTEREST
ALMOST ALL WEEPING WILLOW TREES CONTAIN GENES FROM THE CHINESE
SALIX BABYLONICA AS IT IS THE ONLY TREE WILLOW WITH THAT GENE!
SALIX BABYLONICA WAS GIVEN THAT NAME BY CAROLUS LINNAEUS, THE FATHER OF MODERN TAXONOMY, PROBABLY BECAUSE OF A PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE:
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres. Psalms 137: 1-2
WHEN THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN THERE WERE NO WEEPING WILLOWS IN BABYLON!
WHAT WAS REFERRED TO WERE POSSIBLY POPLARS
A WILLOW GARDEN IS CALLED A SALLEY GARDEN IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND
"Salley" or "sally" is a form of the Standard English word "sallow", i.e., a tree of the genus Salix
It is close in sound to the Irish word saileach, meaning Willow.
Below is a link to a sung version to a beautiful Irish song "Down by the Salley Garden"
WILLOW USES
BASKETRY
GARDEN ART AND STRUCTURES
PLANT SUPPORTS
BIODEGRADABLE COMPOST BINS
BIRD FEEDERS
CUT STEMS FOR FORCING
FENCES, FEDGES AND WATTLES – LIVE AND DRIED WILLOWS
SCREENS AND WINDBREAKS
HERODOTUS DESCRIBED CORACLES BUILT WITH WILLOWS
IN THE 5TH CENTURY BC
ARTIST’S FINE CHARCOAL
FOOD FOR BOVINES, RABBITS AND GOATS
SPEARS FOR ATLATL THROWERS
EVEN CRICKET BATS
LIVING STRUCTURES
DOMES, TUNNELS, CHAIRS, ARCHES, TEMPLES, TEE-PEES
WOVEN TREES IN CONTAINERS = "HARLEQUIN TREES"
CHILDREN’S PLAYHOUSES
CHICKEN AND RABBIT TUNNELS TO HIDE FROM HAWKS
'LIVING CATHEDRALS'
RIVER AND STREAM BANK RESTORATION
WILLOWS ARE USED EXTENSIVELY FOR RESTORING ERODED OR DISTURBED BANKS. THEY ARE ONE OF THE FEW WOODY PLANTS THAT ROOT QUICKLY AND EASILY FROM CUTTINGS; THUS MAKING SUCH PROJECTS MUCH CHEAPER THAN USING ESTABLISHED PLANTS.
http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/techniques/srrestoration.htmlrestoration.html
PHYTOREMEDIATION
CLEAN UP TOXIC WASTE SITES BY ABSORBING
CHEMICALS AND HEAVY METALS AND NEUTRALIZING THEM.
WILLOWS ARE BEING USED TO CLEAN UP POLLUTED INDUSTRIAL SITES
WASTES OF COAL MINING AND BURNING AND OTHER MINING WASTE
WILLOWS CAN BE GROWN UNDER WALNUT TREES AS THEY ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THE CHEMICAL JUGLONE THAT WALNUTS PRODUCE
BIOFUELS
FOR BURNING DIRECTLY AND TO MAKE ETHANOL
WILLOWS ARE ENVIRONMENTLY SUPERIOR TO CORN FOR ETHANOL.
THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE PLANTED EVERY YEAR AND DON'T NEED
THE USE OF WEEDKILLERS AND POISONOUS PESTICIDES TO GROW
MEDICAL USE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, ASSYRIANS AND HERODOTUS (5THC BC)
DESCRIBED USING WILLOWS AS A PAIN KILLER
ASPIRIN WAS FIRST DERIVED FROM SALICIN FROM SALIX
NATIVE AMERICANS CHEWED WILLOW STICKS FOR TOOTHACHE
AND OTHER PAIN
SALICYLIC ACID FROM WILLOWS IS USED TO CONTROL
DANDRUFF AND WARTS
SALICYLIC ACID WAS THE FIRST CHEMICAL ROOTING AGENT
FOR HARD-TO-ROOT PLANTS OTHER THAN WILLOWS.
THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY INDOLE BUTYRIC ACED (IBA)
AND ALSO FOUND IN WILLOWS AND STILL WIDELY IN USE
OTHER USES
BIODEGRADABLE COFFINS AND URNS FOR ASHES
MUSK WATER
MUSK WATER IS MADE FROM SALIX AEGYPTIACA
IT IS WIDELY DRANK IN MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES WHERE THIS WILLOW GROWS. THE WATER SMELLS LIKE 'BELLODGIA', A PERFUME CREATED IN 1927 BY CARON
WILLOW = SAULE = WEIDE = SAUCE = SALICE = ива = Yángliǔ = YANAGI
English French German Spanish Italian Russian Chinese Japanese
SEILEACH = HELYG = SELJE = VIDE = PADU = WILG = עֲרָבָה
Scottish Welsh Norwegian Swedish Finnish Dutch Hebrew
SAILEACH
Irish
Please assist me on the word Willow in languages not listed.
Thanks
Michael
Cut stems of Salix xleucopithecia 'Winter Glory' and
Salix gracilistyla 'Melanostachys'.
WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge
Allow me introduce you to willowworld.org
a work in progress!
In 2010 I created the Vermont Willow Nursery and within 10 years gathered the largest collection of Salix in North America and one of the largest collections in the world. This was due to the many connections I had in the horticultural world and with the generosity of many professionals: nurserymen, academics, Botanical Gardens, Arboreta, home gardeners and customers.
I give many thanks to all of them!
Now that the nursery has been sold, I aim to expand the coverage of the genus Salix in this unique website. I will include Salix I have been fortunate enough to have seen and photographed.
It will take years to achieve what I imagine, so please have patience as I work on this project! There are still incomplete pages, they are all Willows I have added, but not described yet.
Any suggestions and corrections would be welcome so please contact me at my new email address: michaeldodge@willowworld.org
All the material in this website is Copyright 2022 WillowWorld.org all rights reserved.
Layout, text and photographs by Michael Dodge
unless otherwise noted.
If you want to buy willows from Vermont Willow Nursery
you can find them here: vermontwillownursery.com
e-mail address:
michaeldodge@willowworld.org