In a Vase on Monday. Black Clouds

Last week I feature a pinkish Pussy Willow in my vase . The garden was full of blooms and looked springlike and I was bang-up to celebrate it . Today , the garden is still wear its spring party dress but it ’s forgotten its coat and so it ’s shivering under perpetual downpours and roar winds . My plants and I are under a disastrous swarm . I have projects to get on with which ca n’t be done in muck . daffodil have crumble , olfactory organ first into the clay . A golden stem bamboo has heaved itself out of the ground and look as if it is about to sprint off in search of a cracked climate . I do n’t fault it .

So it was the my pitch-black twat willow which I was attempt out today . It is calledSalixgracilistyla‘Melanostachys ’ and it get along from Japan .

Instead of endearing fluffy pinkish pussy willow , today my vase looks a bit ominous . I record somewhere that that the catkins of this shrub look like dance smuggled bears . They prompt me of cat ’s claw and I do n’t mean adorable downlike kitten . They have criminal - looking claws . These are the bud weighing machine which drop off finally . I arranged them in my Victorian lamentation vase to match their austere and slightly threatening mood . I acknowledge this bleak pussy willow tree is n’t to everyone ’s taste but I think it looks dramatic in a vase and if we ca n’t have sunshine and woolly baa lamb frolicking amongst the daisy yet , then why not a bit of drama.?As the catkins mature they cast aside the claw and the anthers become reddish in colour . The final stage is when the stamens become cover in yellow pollen and then they will have to go outdoors . In the meanwhile the stems will believably rootle and I can have a forest of them if I wish . But one is enough . It grows to about 6 to 10 ft but every couple of twelvemonth I cut it right back when the catkins finish . It is not very interesting for the rest of the year but I would n’t be without it because now and then a bit of drama in your vase is good . I resisted my usual itch to cram luck of other flowers into the vase , this is a bandstand alone plant .

willow tree need a moist position in the sun They are all dioecious which is a word with too many vowels which I can never remember how to spell out or pronounce . It means the masculine and womanly efflorescence seem on disjoined plants .

Cathy at Rambling in the Gardenhas find some cheer to buoy up the sombreness of her black cloud today . Do go and see .

40 Responses toIn a Vase on Monday. Black Clouds

Wow , that ’s a stunner ! I do n’t recall seeing that one before , of if I did , not that shut up and not at that stage . It looks beautiful in your vase !

It certainly does n’t appear to have the I must stroke you appeal of the common pussy willow tree or the pink variety but it is a stunner Chloris .

In a Vase on Monday. Black Clouds