Pussy Willow ( Salix caprea "Kilmarnock" )

A Wednesday afternoon with coffee and cake and Kanyl.  We went to Dobbies again as Clickychick wanted to use up her "birthday treat" from Dobbies.  Before anybody jumps to conclusions we are nowhere near her birthday Dobbies have her birthday recorded wrongly.

A week or two ago I blipped Pink Pussy Willow.  Today the Kilmarnock Willow caught my eye.  I haven't seen any buds like this away from garden centres so yet again they have been "brought on" to catch the customers eye.   If you don't know Kilmarnock willow they are a plant that wouldn't exist in the wild, well not in the shape you buy them.

They are a willow standard, probably Salix caprea with the Kilmarnock part grafted on to the top.  The plant in the graft is very geotropic i.e. it grows to wards the ground.  So the willow develops into a dome of shoots bending down and eventually touching the ground.