No Need To Wait 'til Spring!
We have lovely branches of pussy willow. Eighteen stems, 3-4' tall. Buy it, enjoy it in the vase and then grow it on in your own garden! The catkins are fuzzy. Even in full bloom, pussy willow flowers do not look like flowers at all. No petals or showy colors, no fragrance. They are named for cats, in this case for their tails from the old Dutch word for kitten or Katteken. Pick up is at our farm in Stuyvesant. Please include your mobile #/email in the note section so we can coordinate a pick up time.
Try This
Most cut pussy willow stems are in a time warp—dried at their peak fuzziness, and never allowed to fully flower. But if you keep fresh-cut pussy willows hydrated, you can see the whole flowering cycle and even the leafing-out process. Place your freshly cut stems in a vase near a window, changing the water daily. You can add a little flower food or sugar. The shiny bud scales that surround the flower (catkin) will cast off. Grow it on until the catkins grow to a good size , take the branches out of water and they'll keep as a dried flower. Or, wait even longer in the vase until the catkins mature and you see pale green, strappy leaves unfurl from the leaf buds. At this point, your willow stems will be in full spring growth and will need to be planted in soil outdoors to root for an extended experiment. If you choose to root these by keeping them in water, you will need to change water out every other day. The flexible stems can also be woven into a wreath or recycled in the compost pile.