Furniture | Vermont Willow Nursery

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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daphnoides ‘Oxford Violet’

Lisa — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 20:13:30 +0000

An English selection of the Violet Willow that is more compact than other selections of this species. There is some confusion about the sex of ‘Oxford Violet’ as I have seen both male and female plants labelled under this name. Ours is a lady! Young twigs are a delightful pale violet and turn turquoise with a white bloom in the second year. Does not need to be pruned back as frequently as other selections. Leaves are glossy green and white underneath at first.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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‘Aquatica Gigantea Germany’

Lisa — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 17:21:04 +0000

This selection was developed in Sweden as part of their willows for biofuels program. The parentage is very mixed and almost impossible to determine. It probably involves S. viminalis and S. gmelinii (S. dasyclados). This breeding program was started after the first Gulf War in order reduce their reliance on Middle-Eastern petroleum. It’s one vigorous son-of-a-gun and of the earliest varieties to flower, even as early as late March in Northern Vermont! These female catkins start silver and gradually turn gray-green as they expand to 2in plus. Mature leaves are some of the largest of all hardy willows, reaching 8–10in long (that’s where the “Gigantea” comes from). Will grow to 18ft in two years after coppicing; this encourages young shoots that produce the most flowers. As the name indicates it can tolerate damp soils and flowers best in full sun. As with all trees, do not plant near drainage pipes/septic systems.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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daphnoides ‘Continental Purple’

Lisa — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:31:41 +0000

This is a Western European selection of the Violet Willow that is a very vigorous grower with glossy, very dark red stems that stand out against yellow stemmed varieties or against yellow conifers. The handsome leaves are blue-green. It is a male clone with prolifically produced catkins that appear from large buds that are red at the base and yellow at the tip. If not coppiced this grows into a large, spreading bush.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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daphnoides ‘Ovaro Udine’

Lisa — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 01:21:44 +0000

An Italian selection of the Violet Willow that is an extremely vigorous grower with very dark stems and blue-green leaves. Unfortunately we can’t find out any more information about it. In our nursery it grows to 18′ in 2 years after coppicing with very little branching. It has female catkins that start gray and turn green as they mature.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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nigra

Aric Vanselous — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 21:45:26 +0000

Another vigorous species, the Black Willow will grow over a 100ft tall; it makes an imposing tree with deeply furrowed bark. It is the largest-growing native willow in the USA and grows wild in the Eastern half of the country. It one of the most common trees in Vermont on river banks and other damp areas; I’ve even found it growing in a foot of water in Lake Champlain. We have a tiny plant on my property beside a beaver pond–obviously there were more before supper! It has now been caged! It has bright green, twiggy young growth that is great if dried and used as plant supports for perennials (if you don’t dry them they’ll start to grow!). Black Willow is represented in the West by the botanically similar Salix gooddingii that I have recently obtained cuttings of (sadly these died to the ground in the winter of ’18/’19, but sprouted at the base.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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schwerinii

Lisa — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:36:21 +0000

Schwerin’s Willow

schwerinii = Fritz Kurt Alexander von Schwerin, German Botanist

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Willow AT A GLANCE

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USDA Hardiness Zone

Blooming Period

Mid-to-late Winter

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Sex

Female

Potential Height/Width

Possibly as high as 50 ft

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Uses

Large weaving projects, fodder, structures, biofuels

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miyabeana

Lisa — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:08:16 +0000

Miyabeana, named for Dr. Miyabe Kingo, is native to south-eastern Asia. This mammoth-sized grower is also one of the most vigorous we offer. Our beds will grow 8-10 ft in a single year when coppiced! This willow is perfect for areas immediately in need of foliage. Be it wind/snow breaks, privacy screens, or simply for diversity, miyabeana is up to the task. Be careful not to plant too close to structures.

I’ve seen sources that note this as having a particularly strong defense against insects and disease, though we’ve seen aphid damage. In the summer of 2020 we had to battle an aphid infestation which seemed to be isolated to only the miyabeana selections. Never having experienced it we were quite concerned, but every affected plant grew right up past the damage without hesitation!

Click Here to Learn More About Dr. Miyabe

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koriyanagi

Lisa — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 16:46:02 +0000

This species is native to Korea and is widely seen in Japanese and Chinese gardens, also in fine basket making. Similar in size and shape to Salix purpurea, but has green leaves in pairs or in a whorl of three, whereas pupureas have blue-gray leaves in opposite pairs.

It was originally named S. purpurea ‘Japonica’ and then S. purpurea ‘Howkii’, but is not Japanese and S. purpurea is a European species. ‘Howkii’ came from a mistranslation of kori-yanagi to howkii-yanagi by a Japanese nurseryman (yanagi is willow in Japanese). Unfortunately some nurserymen still list this with the old name. Normally it grows up to 12ft tall and about half as wide. Like many willows it’s best to coppice this variety every year. In the wild the species grows in sandy/gravelly soil, but it is equally happy in our heavy clay-loam. We also bought cuttings of this from a nursery in Oregon labelled S. gilgiana and it turned out to be a male selection of S. koriyanagi and this is what we are offering now! Many Public Gardens also had this labelled as Salix gilgiana. Without a doubt, this willow has the best foliage of any willow in our collection–green from Spring into late Autumn. This is the last willow to lose its leaves in Autumn.

Description Credit to Michael Dodge

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