Purple Osier Willow, Purpleosier Willow, Blue Arctic Willow, or Basket Willow

(Salicaceae - Willow Family)

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• Form
  • medium-sized to large-sized shrub
  • maturing at about 10' tall by 10' wide, although sometimes larger
  • upright oval growth habit in youth, quickly becoming rounded and spreading with age
  • rapid growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial shade
  • performs best in full sun in moist to wet soils of average fertility; very adaptable to poor soils, soils of various pH, dry soils, and drought, but not especially tolerant of the combination of heat and high humidity
  • propagated primarily by rooted stem cuttings
  • Willow Family, with many potential diseases (including stem cankers) and pests, many of which are cosmetic in their damage and relatively minor, and generally overcome by the vigor of the shrub
  • moderately available, primarily in container form
  • when this shrub gets too large for its allocated space or simply looks untidy, it can subjected to rejuvenation pruning (taken down to anywhere from 4" to 2' above the ground, preferably anytime from late Winter to mid-Summer), and the new shoots and suckers will quickly sprout and soon overwhelm the stumps in a mass of vigorous stems and foliage
  • Purple Osier Willow is somewhat sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn, and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, and avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter

• Foliage
  • leaves are blue-green, alternate to spiraled, linear to oblanceolate, serrulate, with silvery-blue undersides and short petioles
  • leaves are densely arranged along the very thin stems, and easily flutter and ripple in the breezes as the stems sway in unison
  • Summer foliage color holds well into Autumn, either abscising with essentially the same color, or as a weak chartreuse that is ornamentally ineffective

• Flowers
  • dioecious, light green to greenish-yellow, in late April and early May, as upright, relatively stiff catkins that are about 1" to 2" long, generally parallel to the stems, co-emergent with the foliage, ornamentally insignificant, and often unnoticed

• Fruits
  • ornamentally insignificant fruits containing small seeds occur on female plants

• Twigs
  • first season's growth matures as purplish-red stems with shiny red buds, with the plethora of ultra-slender twigs contributing to the shrub's very fine texture
  • stems have a posture that is upright in youth, becoming horizontal to arching and spreading with maturity
  • stems branch repeatedly in the dense canopy, but because the thin stems of a given branch are closely parallel to one another, the false appearance of all of the stems arising near the base of the shrub is created
  • stem color transitions to a light olive-gray on the older but still smooth branchlets, becoming slightly fissured on the mature basal branches
  • stems can be harvested and used in the production of baskets (hence one of the common names)

• Trunk
  • not applicable (except for Salix purpurea 'Pendula', which is grafted onto a Salix trunk standard)

• ID Summary
  • linear-oblanceolate, blue-green leaves with silvery undersides are closely held next to the dense but ultra-thin stems, rippling and swaying in the breezes for a bicolor effect on an upright-rounded, rapidly growing shrub that is outstanding near bodies of water and highly complementary to ornamental grasses

• Function
  • specimen, group planting, or mass planting shrub, excellent when used near bodies of water, as an informal hedge, as a deciduous screen, on embankments for erosion control (in dry or wet soils), at the border for naturalizing, or as a solitary shrub whose fine texture and bicolor effect in the breeze is a great companion plant to the mid-sized or taller ornamental grasses

• Texture
  • ultra-fine texture in foliage and when bare
  • thick density in foliage and when bare

• Assets
  • fine-textured, blue-green, nearly linear foliage
  • silvery undersides of the leaves create a rippling bicolored effect in the breeze
  • rapid growth and establishment
  • wet site or dry site tolerant
  • takes very well to shearing or heavy rejuvenation pruning
  • very cold hardy
  • stems can be used in basket production

• Liabilities
  • may sucker from nearby roots with age, forming a broad colony (this may be an asset in naturalizing or screening situations)
  • poor fall color (although the positive bicolored effect of the blue/silver Summer foliage continues well into Autumn)
  • not adaptable to the heat and humidity of the Deep South

• Habitat
  • zones 3 to 6
  • native to Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and Japan

• Alternates
  • ultra-fine-textured shrubs (Acer palmatum 'Crimson Queen', Rhamnus frangula 'Asplenifolia', etc.)
  • blue-green foliaged woody plants (Fothergilla gardenii 'Blue Mist', Picea omorika 'Nana', Pinus flexilis glauca 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid', etc.) or blue-green foliaged companion herbaceous plants (Boltonia asteroides, Festuca ovina glauca, Helictotrichon sempervirens, Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal', etc.)
  • fine-textured woody plants tolerant of moist to occasionally wet sites (Gleditsia triacanthos inermis, Taxodium distichum, etc.)
  • plants for embankment erosion control (Coronilla varia, Euonymus alatus, Lespedeza thunbergii, Hamamelis vernalis, Myrica pensylvanica, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rhus glabra, etc.)
  • companion ornamental grasses (or grass-like plants) of medium or fine texture for dry to moist sites (Miscanthus sinensis, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta') or moist to wet sites (Acorus gramineus 'Variegatus', Calamagrostis acutiflora, Carex muskingumensis, Equisetum, Glyceria maxima 'Variegata', Panicum virgatum, various Bamboos, etc.)

• Variants
  • Salix purpurea 'Nana' - compact form, to 6' tall by 6' wide, the most common form for landscape situations
  • Salix purpurea 'Streamco' - bred for its intense suckering and spreading growth that promotes erosion control along stream banks or steep naturalized areas, to 10' tall by 10' wide

• Translation
  • Salix is the classical Latin name for Willows.
  • purpurea translates as "purple", referring to the purplish-red first-year Winter stem color.

• Purpose
  • Purple Osier Willow is a very fine-textured, blue-foliaged deciduous shrub that adapts equally well to wet or dry sites.

• Summary
  • Salix pupurea is known for its nearly linear, fine-textured, blue-green upperside, silvery-blue underside foliage, purplish young stems, wet-site or dry site tolerance, bicolored foliage in the breeze, suckering habit that aids in erosion control, and the potential for its harvested young stems to be used in basket weaving.