Two gardenworthy willows ... and two more!

[Hoy]

Lori,
pretty willows!
 #3 looks similar to S. lanata catkins and #5 looks similar to S. polaris - but I don't know if they grow over there

Well, when I looked better - I am not sure the similarities are striking

[Paul T]

Trond,

So, perfect size for a garden then.    Thanks for the info.

[cohan]

Wow! lots of great willows! There are bazillions of them here, but they are mostly multistemmed large shrubs/small trees to maybe 6-10m, though usually less and needing support of other trees or a dense clump of their own growth to get that tall--also here they often occur in damp to wet pastures, and in those settings they get periodically bulldozed and regrow from the roots..
We have some pretty ones, for sure, and if pruned could be really nice in the garden, including some silvery leafed types, a lot of variety in stem colour and catkins as well, many are very showy through numbers, though not large...

I've admired a few in the mountains, as Lori and Todd mentioned, but was never there at the right time for seed, and only saw them in parks, so could not take cuttings
We have one that my mother planted some years ago--a commercial variety--'arctic fox', or 'blue fox' or something like that-- maybe a metre and a half tall, nice, but not as white as Trond's forms!
Also one survivor in my old rock garden I planted as a teen from a snippet from somewhere in the Rockies also a little over a metre, also not a really flashy one...

[McDonough]

Cohan, maybe you'll show us again here on NARGS (for forumists who have not had the pleasure of seeing your extensive posts on SRGC), your photos of taller shrubby Salix species, but with early spring catkins of beautiful detail, color and form.  I was quite taken with those photos and the detail captured.

[cohan]

Sure, Mark, I will photograph and post them as they start in the spring again--I finally got the Flora of Alberta, and another book that has a bit of a section on willows, so I'm going to start trying to id at least some of the locals!
Here are some from last year in April, so I have some time to wait yet!
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/April182010NorthernSpringWillowsAndBees#
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/April212010NorthernSpringSunsetOnTheRoadside#
and a third album from early May (these are not all willow pics!) shows, I believe, a different species..
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/May022010NorthernSpring#

[Lori S.]

Some great salix in the rockies!  In #7, the vestita is on the top and the reticulata is below.  #5 is also reticulata.  I have pics of that large catkin species as well but never got an ID.

Thanks for the ID help, Todd.  It would be ideal to see these things in the presence of a botanist who could really explain the differences.  Failing that, I guess I'll have to study the field marks more and try to distinguish them.

[Booker]

Apologies for cross-posting this on the SRGC forum as well.

Could anyone kindly identify this dwarf salix from these poor images?  A herbaceous species that has filled a twelve inch pan, has soft downy leaves and is flowering now at less than three inches tall - many thanks in anticipation.

Welcome suggestions have already been made regarding S. polaris and S. uva-ursi but neither seem to correspond exactly.

[killdawabbit]

Great to see Salix mentioned in the forums. I especially love the little ones and have grown them in the past (but not now...). I believe them to be among the most underappreciated plants. Thanks for posting.

Why did you stop growing them if you don't mind saying. I'm thinking about growing them myself. Would they do well in z6b Southeastern climate?