Pussywillows: a Glimmer of Spring to Come

A friend has a large pussywillow bush in her garden. Most of the year, it's an ungainly thing that looks as if it might overgrow everything in sight. By late January, however, I'm paying it regular visits, hoping to find that the shiny brown, hard coverings on the catkins are splitting to reveal their soft, silky contents. Well, this week I was in luck. Yes, the pussywillows are back.

Pussywillows are members of the Salix (willow) family. According to the Digital Atlas of Virginia Flora, they're found in just one county, Augusta, where they grow in a spring marsh. For more information, see: http://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=3463&search=Search

Pussywillows make an interesting addition to the early spring garden. If you have enough space and are willing to keep these shrubs pruned to control their size. Pruning encourages lateral branching and the production of larger catkins. When to prune? After you've enjoyed the late January catkins is fine. Although this shrub produces catkins on last season's growth, they don't appear until late winter, so there's no problem.

So find a source, cut a few branches, and bring them inside to brighten your day. They really don't require artful arrangement. They just arrange themselves. Admire their textures and colors and know that spring is coming...and be prepared for the unexpected...

Brassavola 'Little Stars,' a Winter Delight

It might be a cold January day outside, but Brassavola 'Little Stars' is happily blooming on a window sill in my kitchen. It's a hybrid of Brassavola nodosa, often called the Lady-of-the-Night, and Brassavola cordata. Like it nodosa parent, Little Stars has a citrusy fragrance at night.

The flowers are white, with large white lips and long narrow sepals and petals. It blooms freely and can have as many as five or six flowers on each spike. The leaves are tubular or terate , reflecting its adaptation to somewhat dry growing conditions.

Little Stars prefers growing conditions similar to Cattleyas -- medium to high intensity indirect light. They tolerate low humidity quite well and prefer to dry out a bit between waterings. This orchid can be grown in a pot or attached to a piece of bark.

No matter how you decide to grow it, Little Stars is a beauty.

Long Cool Spring: Great Year for Azaleas

Well, for the last several years, I've complained bitterly about short springs, no transition from spring to summer, and a near total lack of rain from June through August. Last summer we even had restrictions on water use, so watering was limited to gray water that I saved for the most desperately thirsty potted plants.

This year is different. Spring was long, cool, and wet. The azalea blooms were vibrant, and they lingered as if they just hated to leave.

Large azalea plantings in the shade garden

Gardenia type white azalea bloom

One of my favorite azaleas is George Lindley Taber, which has a heady fragrance that always evokes memories of my childhood and my parents' massive azalea plantings. This  tall and wide growing azalea is very effective when planted in drifts. It needs space, but it's beautiful.

That old favorite azalea, George Lindley Taber