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Current Plant Highlights

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March

Salix gracilistyla var. melanostachys

Salix daphnoides

Corylus avellana

Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida'

Stachyurus praecox

March is a wonderful time of year at the Arnold Arboretum, as winter transitions to spring. Willows (Salix) and hazels (Corylus) accompany the witchhazels (Hamamelis) in their floral procession.

Salix gracilistyla, the rosegold pussy willow, produces showy, pinkish-silver catkins up to two inches in length that glisten in the sunlight. The black pussy willow, Salix gracilistyla var. melanostachys, is much like the typical species except that it produces slightly smaller catkins that are purplish-black (due to their blackish bracts). If you examine them closely, you will notice bright red anthers and yellow pollen. While the stem color of the rosegold pussy willow is grayish-green, the black pussy willow is deep purple and very striking. The foliage of these two taxa is a cool bluish gray, and the ultimate size is manageable for cultivation (usually under 10 feet tall). Examples of these two plants can be found along the east side of Meadow Road near the Cercidiphyllum.

Salix daphnoides, the daphne or violet willow, is a small tree admired for both its flowers and its shoots. The precocious and abundant flowering of silky catkins is wonderful to observe at this time of year. The purplish-brown twigs are covered with a frosty white bloom, or waxy coating, that is very ornamental, particularly in conjunction with the flowers. Though the plant can easily reach over 30 feet in height, in the garden it is frequently cut back and maintained as a much smaller plant. This encourages the growth of the younger, more ornamental stems. This species can be found growing among the other willows along the east side of Meadow Road.

Corylus avellana, the European filbert, is prized in its native Europe for its delicious filbert nuts, which appear in early fall. In full leaf, some may find this large shrub (12 to 20 feet tall) to be rather coarse in texture; however, its long, yellow catkins (the male floral structures), which are currently in evidence unobscured by leaves, inspire appreciation from the most critical of gardeners. For a fuller understanding of the plant, you must look very closely. Upon inspection of the seemingly closed buds along the branches, you will find the tips of the bright red female flowers barely peeking out the ends of the buds. An example of Corylus avellana is located in the Bradley Collection of Rosaceous Plants on the edge of Faxon Pond.

Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida', a cultivar of the Chinese witchazel, displays fragrant, sulfur-yellow flowers in February and March. The unusual flowers are representative of the witchhazel group, with their ribbon-like, crinkled petals that may be likened to thin strips of crepe paper. Though they appear to be fragile, they are able to withstand quite inhospitable conditions, including cold temperatures, ice, and snow. When temperatures dip to extremes, the petals coil up like a spring, unrolling only when temperatures warm to some degree. The fall foliage on this plant may be spectacular, ranging from yellow to yellow-orange. The Chinese witchhazel is the least cold hardy of the witchhazels and may experience flower bud damage at temperatures below -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida' can be found to the east of the intersection of Meadow Road and Forest Hills Road just above a planting of spirea.

Stachyurus praecox, the spiketail, is an unusual shrub that in mid to late March produces stiff, yet pendulous, racemes of creamy yellow, cup-shaped flowers. These floral beauties are found at the ends of arcing, reddish-brown stems. Mature plants have an open, loose arrangement of branches, and are generally 5 to 7 feet in height and width. This native of Japan is rarely encountered in cultivation in North America, though it has much potential for use as a garden specimen. Because it is marginally hardy here at the Arnold Arboretum, the best plants can be found growing in protected microclimates along Chinese Path and on the south side of the Hunnewell Building.