Talk about a good time! A bunch of us were talking in the office the other day and someone noticed that my vase full of pussy willow stems was sprouting green growth up above and roots below the water. That's a first. Been buying these every spring for years and don't remember ever seeing them root. Maybe I never put them in water before.
I'm thinking maybe they ought to go in the ground in a few weeks. They like sun and I have a sunny spot that's been tough to landscape. Nothing seems to grow there, even things like coneflower that thrive in other bright locations. Pussy willows have a tough constitution but beware. They come with warnings about invasive roots and, being fast growers, they need to be pruned, at least for height, to control their size.
Pussy willows are one of the early harbingers of spring, which is why so many people leave the Flower Show with an armful. It's an annual ritual for lots of us. I think the region's wildlife is happy about that ... deer, goldfinches, muskrats, red squirrels and ruffled grouse apparently love to munch on pussy willow buds. Wouldn't appeal to me - too fuzzy - but taste is such an subjective thing.
So is taste in wildlife. As in ... I wouldn't be too happy if a deer showed up in my city garden, but a ruffled grouse? Come on down!
