Looking for an easy and fast growing screening or border plant?  The Pussy Willow is that and more.  This fast-growing shrub is densely branched.  It will provide screening for you, early-season nectar for pollinators, and habitat for songbirds.

Eco-system Services

Some birds, especially hummingbirds, use the fuzz to line their nests.  The plant is dioecious, which means there are male and female plants.  It is the male plants that have the fuzzy catkins.  The catkins are actually the flowers.

The early blooms on pussy willow provide early nectar sources for pollinators. These pollinating insects will, in turn, become a smorgasbord for songbirds, especially Chickadees and Goldfinches.

Butterflies

The Mourning Cloak butterfly winters over in the crevices of the pussy willow.  In the spring, it emerges from hibernation and mates. The female then lays her eggs on a pussy willow or one of its other acceptable host plants.

The Viceroy Butterfly looks almost exactly like a Monarch.  Unlike the monarch who migrates to Mexico, the Viceroy is a common Pennsylvania resident that hosts on willow. Females lay their eggs on the tip of the willow leaf.  When the caterpillar hatches, it will roll itself in the leaf, stay with the leaf as it falls, and remain there until spring.  In spring it will climb back up the bush, feed on the leaves, and form a chrysalis.

The Pussy Willow is also recognized as being of special value to native bees, who are the true ‘work-horses’ of pollination.

Plant one this fall and you’ll be helping those early pollinators.  Use it along with viburnums, winterberry hollies, or bayberries to create a dense hedgerow.  Fall planting is preferable to spring for most plants, as it is when they complete 80% of their root growth.

Where to Plant

Pussy Willows prefer full to part sun and tolerate flooding.  It grows 6 to 15 feet with a spread of 4 to 12 feet.  Plant it as part of a hedgerow or in a rain garden.  Occasional flooding will not bother it.   It is tolerant of deer and black walnut.  Be sure it gets enough moisture, it will suffer in a dry spot.  Clay soil is fine.

Try mixing it with viburnums, ninebark, serviceberry, and other shrubs to create a rich, diversified, hedgerow.

Harvesting

Many people like to cut and bring the stalks inside.  If that’s you, gather your stalks before the pollen appears.  Do not put them in water. (If for some reason you do put them in water, they could make roots and then you can plant it outside!)  If you do not put them in water, the stalks will dry, and the catkins will stay soft and beautiful for years.

You can prune as desired to harvest stalks of the catkins.  You can also cut it to the ground every few years for a flush of new growth.

Stop in today to purchase one of these versatile, adaptable shrubs.  We have a robust crop of 3′ male (catkin producing) pussy willows in large containers ready to be planted in your landscape