Day 103: Here it is, a sure sign that winter's reign will soon give way to spring. The emergence of pussywillows marks the beginning of my seasonal calendar, the natural equivalent of New Year's Day. They've been out for a week or so already, waiting for me to acknowledge them with a portrait as soon as the rains stopped. I haven't checked the twig I planted in the front yard last year, a slip from this tree, but it bore leaves well into autumn last year, so I'm sure it's all right.
Sprangly though it is, this tree projects up beyond the peak of the garage roof. It too originated as a slip, taken from a branch found on a back road, broken off by an ice storm several years ago. Pussywillows used to be quite common here in the Pacific Northwest, but in the last several decades, they've become harder to find growing wild, and it's my considered opinion that the world needs more of their cheer. Willows of all sorts root readily in water or moist ground. Pick pussywillows just as they begin to open, put them in a jar of water and let the catkins go through their cycle. When the catkins fall, the twigs will begin to develop leaves. By the time the leaves are mature, a healthy crop of roots will have developed as well. The twigs can be put directly in the ground at that point, or as I prefer to do, pot them up to confine the roots and force them to grow into a good ball. Plant the following spring and keep well watered through the heat of summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment