Salix purpurea #187
purpurea = purple
Purple Willow
A vigorous male selection of the purple willow that was developed at SUNY Syracuse for biofuel production and got into commercial trade surreptitiously (a NY State willow grower apparently was seen climbing over their fence with handfulls of cuttings)! All purpurea varieties are too bitter to be eaten by deer so this makes them great for dense hedges and fedges to keep them away from plants they will eat. #187 has particularly long, thin and straight green rods making it very useful for all kinds of living and dried purposes. We coppice ours every year and end up with 8-10ft rods and believe it's probably the best purpurea we offer! Hardy to Zone 3.
USES: Great for making living fedges, small structures or weaving through thicker rods; as well as dried for basket making and other objet d’art.
One of the best purpureas for producing long thin rods. Mid May.
In winter the rods turn a rich red-brown in mid October
Catkins are usually produced in opposite pairs, dark gray at first
they brighten up as they mature with red anthers and yellow pollen. Both late March.
Young foliage of #187, leaves blue underneath. Mid July.
After the rain. August
WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge