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Salix alba 'Vitellina'

The red-stemmed willow has been glowing in damp woods more and more brightly as spring approaches. By the time hazel catkins are catching the sun, the scarlet bark of the willow fires up the woodland canopy like autumn leaves. In the garden, where we keep little willows pollarded at head height, they make the most radiant glow in the garden, especially combustive in the snow.

Who knows why the bark intensifies its colour as it matures? Young it is green. By March, when its buds start to show green leaf, it is the colour of sealing wax. Cut it then (you must cut it all) and the stems stay brilliant all year. A sheaf of them standing in a corner decorates a room. By July the pollard is fully grown again, a bushy green mop with considerable architectural merit in the garden

 

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