purpurea ‘Leicestershire Dicks’

Another selection that was new to us and this one came from the Chicago Botanic Garden from the side of one of their many parking areas! This clone has very slender dark red stems, small leaves and male flowers. Leicestershire, of course, is a County in the UK and used to be an important willow rod growing area. We have only grown this since April ’14 and it has not made much size yet, so we know little about it. It appears to be slower growing than other clones; the slender rods make it a really good variety for fine basketry. It is said to produce 6-7ft rods in England, however willows tend to grow taller in North America because of the hotter weather! We will coppice it this spring and see how it responds to that! More information will come as we observe it this year!