Salix koreensis ‘Hakuro’
koreensis = of Korea
Lemon Willow
This female selection opens with leaves of a unique shade of pale yellow. We obtained this beauty from Dick Jaynes at Broken Arrow Nursery in Connecticut. It has a very Oriental, ethereal quality about it when the leaves appear in April and May. After eight years this plant is now about 20 x 14ft and all we’ve done to it is prune out some lower branches as they were shading the perennials planted under it. In summer 2016 I helped the Montreal Botanic Garden with the nomenclature of some of their willows and realized when I examined their Salix koreensis that it was extremely similar to our 'Hakuro'. So I was allowed to take a piece to compare the two and sure enough the similarities were just too close to ignore. In 2020 I'll have this verified. The difference, of course, is in the pale yellow leaves of the cultivar. Hardy to Zone 4.
USES: A great addition to any large border and can be grown with minimal pruning as in the photo below right or coppiced every other year.
This is our tree in late summer with Sedum 'Autumn Joy' underneath.
A handsome tree that anchors the lower end of our Dry Stream Garden.
Young leaves of this delightful Japanese selection.
A branch overhanging our Dry Stream Garden, with Oriental Lily foliage
and Pink Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis).
Female catkins appear early May on the previous year’s growth; not showy but bees love 'em.
The delightful young foliage of the Lemon Willow in early spring. A moment we look forward to all winter.
Mature leaves in autumn with next year's flower buds already swelling.
The red glow behind is Sedum 'Autumn Joy' in evening light.
Late September and the leaves are as fresh and green as they have been all summer.
This is the trunk of our tree after 8 years. Handsome bark.
Development of the flower buds left; then an increase in the indumentum (fuzz) on the stems, center; as well as a change in color from green, to brown and finally reddish-brown, right.
Left: early September the flower buds have started to swell; middle: late-September; right: mid-October, evening light.
Note the undersides of the leaves are glaucous (waxy blue-gray coating); also the serrated (saw-tooth) edges of the leaves, each with a gland at the tip!
WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge