In early spring, the silver bud willow comes to life with soft, fluffy flower buds that appear on its purple-brown branches. These buds are white in color, exuding a sense of elegance and freshness. As an outstanding early blooming plant, it transforms into a lush green shrub during the summer, making it ideal for planting along pond edges, riverbanks, lakeshores, lawns, and forest borders. Additionally, its graceful branches are widely used as cut flowers in floral arrangements, decorative displays, or even as standalone vases.
Commonly known as silver willow, cotton willow, or willow branch, the silver bud is a deciduous shrub that typically grows 2 to 3 meters tall. Its young branches have a greenish-brown hue with a slight red blush, and they are covered with fine hairs at the axils. As the branches mature, they become smooth. The winter buds are dark purple and shiny, giving the plant a striking appearance during the colder months. The viewing period usually lasts from December through March of the following year.
Native to the northeastern region of China, the silver bud willow is also found in parts of the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It thrives in sunny, warm, and humid environments and is highly adaptable, tolerating moisture, cold, and drought. It prefers deep, loose, and fertile soils. During the growing season, it's important to keep the soil consistently moist, especially in hot summers when evaporation is rapid. Watering should be done in the evening or at night, avoiding midday watering to prevent stress on the roots. In rainy seasons, proper drainage is essential to avoid waterlogging, which can lead to root rot.
To ensure healthy growth, it's recommended to apply base fertilizer when planting and supplement with decomposed liquid fertilizer during the growing season. Spraying a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaves can promote leaf development and strengthen the plant. Especially after the winter flower buds begin to swell and before cutting for floral use, a heavy application of nutrients is crucial to support the development of strong, vibrant flower buds.
When grown as cut flowers, silver bud willows can survive the winter in colder regions, but their branches may freeze. To prepare them for the next season, all branches can be cut back before winter and stored in a cold room at 1°C to 3°C, either in a sand bed or in a wet environment to induce dormancy. By early January, when the temperature reaches 5°C to 10°C, the base of the flowering branches can be soaked in water to encourage sprouting. Once the flower buds develop, the cut flowers can be sold in markets.
Propagation of silver bud willows is commonly done through cuttings, typically in spring. Healthy cuttings with robust, full leaf buds and a diameter of at least 0.5 cm are taken from the mother plant and cut into 10 to 15 cm sections, each containing 4 to 5 leaf buds. These cuttings are then directly inserted into a potting mix with a spacing of about 35 cm. Roots usually appear within 15 days. When the shoots reach around 10 cm in length, the entire shoot is topped, leaving only 3 strong buds and removing the rest to encourage better growth.
Silver bud willows can also be propagated through grafting, which allows for the creation of plants with more upright stems, often referred to as "caking silver buds." This method is frequently used in landscaping. Grafting is done by using weeping willow seedlings of a desired height as rootstocks, and the graft is performed using a splicing technique. After grafting, careful pruning is necessary to shape the tree, ensuring that the branches and foliage are well-balanced and visually appealing.
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