pussy willows – MINDING MY P'S WITH Q

It’s that time of year! Pussy Willow branches are available in the supermarket. This year the catkins were fully emerged when I bought them. Hooray! In past years they have been tightly covered and I’ve had to help the furry little catkins emerge by hand.

Forcing Pussy Willows

I must have come upon the branches soon after they were delivered to the store. When I cut the ends I saw that further up the branch there was still a touch of green, a good sign that the branches might root and continue to grow for weeks.

Pussy Willows in January make me smile and banish the winter blues! They help nurture me through the long winter days. This post is part of Nurturing Thursday.

I searched the creek banks near me several times in the last few weeks for pussy willows. There were once several stands of them, but that was before beavers moved into the creek, built a dam, and took down dozens of trees. The beavers have since been relocated to another area, but too late to save the pussy willow trees.

I decided my only course of action to have an Easter arrangement with pussy willows was to buy a bouquet of them. I did so, vased them up, placed them on the mantel, and waited for the catkins to burst through the brown buds. It never happened. My pussy willow branches must have been cut and left dry before they were sold. The twigs are not alive, their catkins will never burst out of the tight buds.