The Wild Garden: Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database

Northwest Native Willows (Salix)

Kingdom Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Subclass Dilleniidae

Order Salicales

Family Salicaceae – Willow family

Genus Salix L. – willow

Salix hookeriana (Hooker's Willow)

Salix lasiolepis (Arroyo Willow)

Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra (Pacific Willow)

Salix scouleriana (Scouler's Willow, Mountain Pussy Willow)

Salix sitchensis (Sitka Willow)

Willow, in your April gown
Delicate and gleaming,
Do you mind in years gone by
All my dreaming?

Spring was like a call to me
That I could not answer,
I was chained to loneliness,
I, the dancer.

Willow, twinkling in the sun,
Still your leaves and hear me,
I can answer spring at last,
Love is near me!

April Song by Sarah Teasdale.

Plant yourself some willows--a group or just a single tree.

Willows are among the mid-range layer of plants in the native garden, filling the space between the top canopy and the lower bushes. Choose trees and shrubs in a range of heights so the birds have several layers of canopy to hide in. This inner area is excellent for wildlife foods--a sampling of nuts, seeds, berry, and other fruits will set the wildlife table from now until spring.

Willow species, Dwarf Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina), sumac (Rhus), taller ceanothus species, and Twin Berry (Lonicera involucrata), for example, fill this bill admirably. In addition, willows are the gold standard for building furniture and garden structures.

In general, willows are easy to grow and they mature rapidly. They are excellent in many landscape applications. They are deciduous. In spring the bare branches sprout fuzzy catkins that are shades of grey and very soft to the touch, giving these plants the common name of 'pussy willows.' It is at this stage cuttings are often taken for long lasting decorations. Plant a grove and cut some every year for crafts. Willows are pliant and strong and make beautiful wreaths and chairs and tables and trellis--the only limit is your imagination! When I was in grade school our teacher brought in some branches and showed us how to color the catkins with crayons.

Photo above center from Sten Porse

These little catkins eventually bloom and then unfold into leaves. As the leaves mature they take on the usual leaf shape for each species and all trace of the original furry texture is gone.

Willows perform an important service to rivers. See http://www.riverpartners.org/about/

"In natural riparian areas, willow thickets form after sandbar, arroyo and black willows colonize newly formed point bars. Other mixed riparian plants, especially young cottonwoods, may be found in this young, early successional habitat. Early successional habitat is preferred by many migratory songbirds.
"The young willows have multiple small, flexible stems which form thickets, or thick walls of stems. Willow thickets typically grow close to the river channel. In this location, willow thickets benefit both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. They provide protection, nesting, and foraging for wildlife that access the river for water, and they release nutrients into the river that support aquatic life. Willows flower early in the season, providing an early food source for native pollinators."

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