Just as January was winding down, Ron went out to THF to cut some of our pink pussy willows. Last year we made no attempt to work with them. It was the second year of growth and we made the decision to just let them be. Of course the deer out there made no such commitment.   Last spring we found gnawed off ends on most of the plants.  A disheartening  sight to be sure.

I assume it was the deer, but we do have rabbits on the farm too and I guess they could be the culprits. No way to know for sure.   We really do want them to grow well on THF. In the early spring their nectar and pollen are a much needed food source for local bees. And who doesn’t want to help out the bees? And as a bonus, they are lovely to look at too.

Anyway, Ron came home with the cuttings and put them into a jar with a few inches of water. This was to force the “pink” color to show.  Then we waited.  And nothing much happened.  Ron always has a vision of the final product in his head.  And he will do whatever it takes to make it come fruition.  But even he cannot fight Mother Nature.   So in early February and then a few weeks later, the two of us headed out to cut more and this time to grab some dogwood twigs.  For contrasting color in the arrangements he had planned.

By that time we actually had more pussy willows to cut too.   Apparently the guidelines are that you need to have at least 10 catkins on each branch and no major empty spaces.  Especially near the top.   You want each of them to look their best and a lopped off or empty top does not improve things.

Now that we had our pussy willows in hand, the next step was to find inexpensive vases for them. Ron’s hope is that we will be able to sell vases of our willows for Valentine’s Day with the red twig dogwoods and maybe a red ribbon or heart. So Jo, Ron and I hit the thrift stores in Syracuse looking for clear vases of just the right size. We were not sure if we would find enough for our purposes. But we did, as unneeded vases were everywhere.

Ron had specific styles and sizes in mind and these are the ones we came home with. They also had to be under a dollar. While the pussy willows would look even more special in a fancy vase, the goal is to keep our costs down. I put a couple of the vases into use by stuffing some of the willows into them. I want to dry them so we can use them as a display at our events. People sometimes do need a visual aid in order to see what is possible. Adding the Easter eggs is a nice touch, don’t you think? The dried ones could be out year round and decorated for just about any occasion. Maybe some tiny Christmas ornaments come December? Shamrocks in March, turkeys in November and hearts in February?

One added bonus to rooting our own pussy willows, we were left with what is known as pussy willow tea. Once your willows have some great roots growing and you get them planted, you can use the left over water to root other plants. This is because all willows have a natural rooting hormone and the water they sat in is now infused with this hormone.

The red twig dog wood cuttings we left in the bucket sprang to life in our living room. We actually had some flower buds showing. It will be interesting to see how well they transplant once the weather gets and stays warmer. We have a good number of the pussy willows that rooted too and will plant them all on THF. Going on the advice from gardening site, Ron has a vision of a solid hedge of willows. At least this vision will be easy enough to make happen. As long as Mother Nature cooperates. And the deer stay away.