Biofuel | Vermont Willow Nursery

miyabeana ‘Sx67’

Aric Vanselous — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 19:35:19 +0000

Miyabeana originates from Hokkaido, Japan, and was offered to the Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario for biomass experiments (Checklist for Cultivars of Salix L.). It eventually found it’s way to the wonderful folks over at Cornell University, who have done extensive studies on it. The fact sheet for Sx61 is currently unavailable, but can be found here: https://willow.cals.cornell.edu/extension/#factsheets

Our miyabeana cultivars are extremely vigorous! In 2020, our friend Aresh Javadi and his understudy Minerva came and coppiced our entire patch of miyabeana. Between Spring and Fall, they all grew rods over six feet long. No, that is NOT a typo! Miyabeana is a proven winner and would work well as a privacy screen, wind/snowbreak, creating living and dried structures, early pollinator assistance…you get the idea. All of this vigor and it tops out at relatively small size. This willow keeps a nice, lively green-yellow throughout the year and taper to red at the tips.

Sx67 is almost entirely identical to Sx61 and 64, the differences being quite literally microscopic.

*anecdotally, we have sent miyabeana and it’s variations all over the country, and have not had reports of issues planting in hardiness zones above 6

Click Here to Learn More About Dr. Miyabe

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miyabeana ‘Sx61’

Aric Vanselous — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 16:37:51 +0000

Sx61 has also been featured in Beyond the Pellet, as a supplement to rabbit feed.

*anecdotally, we have sent miyabeana and it’s variations all over the country, and have not had reports of issues planting in hardiness zones above 6

Click Here to Learn More About Dr. Miyabe

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tenuijulis

Aric Vanselous — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 18:23:47 +0000

Slender Catkin Willow

integra x suchowensis

tenui = slende

julis = catkin

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Willow AT A GLANCE

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USDA Hardiness Zone

Blooming Period

Mid Spring

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Sex

Female

Potential Height/Width

15 ft, possibly 20 ft

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Uses

Small landscape structures, wattle fences, biofuel

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calodendron

Lisa — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 15:51:44 +0000

This tribrid is found sporadically in Europe wherever the three species are found together. But, as in siblings in a family, no two seedlings are exactly alike. This one was selected because of its fine form and vigor. It is a fairly erect tree 20-40ft if allowed to develop a trunk or a dense bush if it is coppiced for rods. The trunks and larger branches are brown and twigs are green at first and turn red later in summer where the sun reaches them. The stems are persistently pubescent (dense hairy); they turn brown their second year. Leaves can grow to 6 inches long and 1.5 to 2 inches wide and are oblong or oval-shaped, pointed at top and rounded at the base of the leaf. The upper surfaces of the leaf is dull green and the undersides are densely pubescent with dense gray hairs and a prominent veins. The overwintering flower buds are short and fat and are covered with dense hairs. When the bark is stripped, striae can be seen; these are commonly found in Salix cinerea and its hybrids. Female catkins are produced before the leaves (precocious) in late March or early April and are densely arranged on the ends of the stems as in S. viminalis. It grows naturally in damp places, but tolerates any soil that doesn’t dry out too quickly. Makes tough and flexible rods that are useful for basket-making or fedges; also used as an ornamental plant. Best if coppiced every 1-2 years to keep an abundance of stems available.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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aurita x viminalis

Aric Vanselous — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 15:44:25 +0000

Hybrid Eared Willow

aurita = eared

viminalis = osier

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Willow AT A GLANCE

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USDA Hardiness Zone

Blooming Period

Mid Spring

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Sex

Female

Potential Height

15 - 20 ft

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Uses

Windbreaks, privacy screens, may be useful for fuel

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viminalis ‘Bowhayes Strain A’

Aric Vanselous — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 16:49:12 +0000

At last we’ve found an Osier we can grow successfully! All other attempts resulted in stunted plants loaded with every insect pest that can attack willows. This is a vigorous selection or hybrid of the Osier that grows long straight stems and used for hundreds of years in Europe for all kinds of different uses. It has been asked for by customers ever since we went on line with our nursery! I wrote to Bowhayes Trees in the UK to find out how it originated, but never received a reply; they sell wholesale willow and poplar selections and hybrids. Here is what we know from our experience: It is a female Osier that is very similar to S. viminalis in appearance with 6-8in long green leaves with silver undersides, downy stems and and a green-brown trunk in the first years. This is insect resistant and the species S. viminalis is not for us; so I’m guessing it’s a hybrid, perhaps S. schwerinii is the other parent!

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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viminalis ‘Bowhayes Strain’

Aric Vanselous — Sun, 03 Oct 2021 16:34:57 +0000

Osier Willow

viminalis = of or belonging to osiers

Bowhayes is a tree nursery in England

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Willow AT A GLANCE

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USDA Hardiness Zone

Blooming Period

Spring...we'll narrow it down when we can!

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Sex

Male

Potential Height

At least 10 ft, likely double

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Uses

Ornamental, course basketry, living structures

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holosericea

Lisa — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 22:29:54 +0000

An extremely vigorous willow with strong stems after coppicing. Very upright in habit and great for large structures. The foliage is a rich dark green and the leaves are ovate as are its parent S. cinerea and displays evidence of Salix viminalis by the length of the flowering stems. I have counted up to seventy blossoms on a single stem; this means that it must be a great resource for bees. We obtained cuttings of this hybrid from several different sources and they are identical. A willow we bought as ‘Bowles Hybrid’ looks very similar to this; it’s possible we received the wrong thing, as ‘Bowles Hybrid’ is said to have very long leaves like S. viminalis, whereas these leaves are more like S. cinerea! As I write this in mid-October with blazing autumn color all around, these are still a rich dark green! In the first year after planting, this cross has a tendency to grow somewhat sideways! Simply coppice these hard to the ground in the second year and they will grow vertically.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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gmelinii

Lisa — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 20:45:29 +0000

This Asian species is found along stream-sides, riverbanks and lake-shores in northeastern China, Mongolia, eastern Russia and Japan. It was introduced into Europe and was thought to be a triple hybrid and named S. xdasyclados. Russian taxonomists disagreed with this assumption as S. gmelinii is quite variable. Unfortunately these corrections don’t always reach Public Gardens and Nurserymen. The Russian taxonomist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in England corrected me on this! It is a vigorous grower and becomes a large shrub or small tree 10-20ft, but better coppiced for the very attractive rods. The thick stems are densely white villous at first (hence the Chinese common name), turning a warm brown as they mature. The showy 2-3in catkins appear before the leaves; ours are a female selection. Grows well in almost any soil, but is more vigorous with good fertility; will tolerate standing water for short periods.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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eriocephala S25 ‘Vigorella’

Lisa — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 18:33:51 +0000

A friend suggested that this hybrid should be called ‘Vigorella’, as that’s what this is!

It’s a cross between two wild collected clones of this native plant and produced at the University of Toronto. The result is astonishing! This is the most vigorous S. eriocephala

I have ever seen, growing twice the height of all other selections of this species in one year! I believe that is due to hybrid vigour (heterosis); a phenomenon in some plants where crossing two different clones/species of plants produces much more vigorous offspring! It is an attractive shrub with larger leaves than the species and long, straight stems that are covered with female catkins in April-May. It is highly insect and disease resistant and forms a shrub that can grow 15-20ft tall, but better if coppiced every 2-3 years to get more young flowering stems. Adaptable to a wide range of soil and moisture conditions. Like all willows, it prefers full sun!

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

Check out the fact sheet from Cornell University here!

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