Published via Ecency

Hello, my dear gardener friends all over the world!

Happy Monday!
Today is the last day of February.

I don’t work today, so after 3 days I went to check my garden.
My first glance fell on the dangling willow.
I noticed that the sweet, fluffy flowers that were like cotton wool had opened.
The touch is soft and silky.

When I walked today in the garden, it suddenly started to snow.
I was just photographing my catkin bush when a snowflake fell on the catkin flower, so I managed to photograph this.
There you can see the tiny snowflake in the photo.

It is not cold,it is +3 degrees, the wind is blowing hard like it does every day lately.

What do you need to know about this plant?
Hanging willow, (Salix caprea Kilmarnock) anddeciduous tree or shrub, flowering outdoor plant.
The herald of spring.
As it is frost tolerant, it adapts well to the extreme weather conditions in Hungary.
The final height of the hanging catkin is one and a half to two meters.
The flowers that appear on the drooping branches in early spring give the plant its ornamental value, providing a particularly beautiful sight when flowering.
The hanging catkins bloom in early spring, March.
It blooms a little earlier this year, it actually tends to open at Easter.
We decorate our Easter table with its branches, this is a tradition in my country, Hungary.
Another curiosity, the leaves open later, the flowers first.

Generally, strong frosts can damage the plant, even if it is a frost-tolerant plant.
Thank God, there were no big frosts this winter, it was only -5 degrees at night.
They can be attacked by certain fungal diseases such as powdery mildew or leaf rust. Caterpillars, shield lice, and aphids can also occasionally damage the plant.
It hasn’t happened to my bush yet, it’s a wonderful wedge of my garden.

I bought this beautiful plant in horticulture, in my town 8 years ago.
It was only 1 meter back then.
We planted it next to the terrace at first, but we noticed that this place wasn’t suitable for it, it was getting too much sunlight, it hadn’t developed, and it seemed like it might dry up.
We were very scared because we didn’t want to lose this gorgeous plant.
We saved it's life at the last minute.
We found a very nice place for it next to the garden pond.

So it is in the shade for most of the day, only exposed to sunlight in the afternoon.
Its water demand is higher than average, it is difficult to bear the drought, so it started to grow beautifully next to the garden pond.
Interestingly, all the plants that are next to the garden pond feel very good, they develop nicely.
In summer, if it is very hot, you need to take care of watering your plant.
We irrigate with well water, this is important because it does not contain chlorine like tap water.

This plant does not require much care, but as it tends to proliferate, it should be thinned by pruning as needed.
The bees like very much the catkin flowers.