Salix alba ‘Chermesina’

December

The scarlet-barked white willow takes centre stage when it snows. The bark of its fresh twigs glows a brighter and brighter red as winter closes in, until it stands out like sealing wax against the snow. I have been pollarding these little trees every spring for 30 years: the result is a heavy knob of calloused bark on a straight stem from which a huge brush of green shoots appears in summer. By the time I cut them next spring they are the red twigs you buy from the florist. There are also yellow-barked varieties of the white willow. ‘Hutchinson’s Yellow’ is a good one. But ‘Chermesina’ on a sunny day of snow can look like leaping flames.

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