Harbinger of Spring

Pussy willow is the common name used to identify willows (North American Salix discolor) that bare soft fuzzy buds or catkins on leafless twigs in late winter or very early spring. These beautiful, shimmering catkins are a feast for the eyes after the long, harsh winter. Picking them for ornamental use around your home makes for a whimsical spring ritual.

According to an old Polish legend, this is how the Pussy Willow got its name: Many springtime’s ago a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river in which her kittens were drowning. The willows at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens who had fallen into the river while chasing butterflies. The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were safely brought to shore. Every spring-time since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds at their tips where the tiny kittens once clung :-)

Pussy Willow Blooms

"Spring has again returned. The Earth is like a child that knows many poems. Many, O so many. For the hardship of such long learning she receives the prize. Strict was her teacher. The white in the old man's beard pleases us. Now, what to call green, to call blue, we dare to ask: She knows, She knows!" ~ Rainer Marie Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus, XXI