Willowy

You know those curly willow branches you can buy in bundles for floral arrangements and pots? I really like those, and I thought it would be nice to grow my own, which would be easy enough, since they root readily when you stick them in the dirt.

But willows can grow up to be monstrosities, so I am experimenting—I put them in a half-whiskey-barrel planter last summer, and set it next to the house and air conditioner, on the south side, in a space that isn't really well-suited for much else anyway. I figured that if they didn't make it through the winter grown in a container like this, I was none the worse off, since I had bought the twigs for the previous winter's front step arrangement, and so wasn't investing money in a plant of marginal hardiness only to risk seeing it perish in a Minnesota winter.

Last winter didn't really qualify as a Minnesota winter, it was more like Seattle, or something. So of course the willow cuttings came through just fine.

They've sprouted a lot of small, delicate stems so far, which look lovely in a vase with some daffodils. It remains to be seen if I'll get any larger, showier specimens from it, but I'm rather liking it so far, anyway. If it simply fills the barrel with curly willow stems, that will be all right with me, too.