"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn."
Lewis Grizzard
Last week I went over to my friend's house and cut some of her pussy willows to put on my kitchen table, they look quite lovely there. Pussy willows are native to Canada and the eastern U.S. Quite a few Russian Orthodox, Polish, and East European peoples carry pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of palm branches. There are actually male and female pussy willow trees, and they look different, but I can't tell which mine are! Those little wooly buds on them are called catkins, and they form before the leaves come. In the last picture you see one of mine that is either going to seed or blooming, I'm not quite sure. Maybe both! Today was the first day of spring, and the little catkins are the very first sign of spring, a fuzzy harbinger!
"Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3
31 comments:
How pretty, the pussy willows will look beautiful on your kitchen table. I really like your macro shots of the catkins Ginny.
Very pretty Ginny. Happy Monday.
You make me wish we had some growing on our place!
Ginny,
I love pussy willows...I always have and can look at them endlessly. The softness and delicacy but strong and rugged!
thank you so much for sharing those..I'll be back to share in their beauty again.
Have a blessed Monday...
I love pussy willows! I didn't realize they did anything but produce those soft and fuzzy tips. I don't recall seeing them like in your last photo.
Best,
Bonnie
These are really pretty!! When your page loaded, I thought I thought...a caterpillar maybe...! Love the close-ups!
SEED did you say SEED???? are you planting them? see if they grow? oh my... they are beautiful. i love them, never seen them, read about them, but never even seen a photo. gorgeous
over here, these pussy willows are sold during our chinese new year time.. we cannot grow them over here in this hot weather.. so nice that you can have them over there.. now i know they are called pussy willows.. LOL..
You got some wonderful macros of the pussy willows. I've never seen any near us.
Good job getting pictures of a rare plant...well, rare to me, at least.
Oh, wow, pussywillows are my absolute fav first thing in the spring. Around here all the flowers come after the pussywillows. These look like cultured ones to me, the wild ones are teeney, tiny! I did have a large willow tree in one of our backyards. They can't be planted near the house as they will mess with your weeping tile. I let one of those stems that I got from a friend grow roots in the the water and then I planted it in the furthest corner of the yard. It grew into a giant 20+ foot tree! Thanks for the memories!
OH MY!!! I just purchased a umbrella pussy willow to plant come may. Will I need another in my yard to make it bloom? I dont know if mine is male or female....
These a magnificent beauty! They are amazing to me. Thanks!
Not only are the Pussy Willows pretty,but they awaken a host of memories for me.I remember,how as a child I would love those first signs of growth.I can feel the softness of those Pussy Willows now.Thanks for the me memories.
Blessings,Ruth
What a promise! Gee, I haven't seen these in ages..they were a favorite of my Grandma and mother. Maybe that is going to seed? I kind of remember Sandra mentioning she thought your birthday was earlier. The brother who passed away..his was today and my husband's is on the 31st. But yes, first day of Spring..how wonderful!
When I was a girl we had a pussy willow tree in the back yard. Now I have to buy them for my house
I have never seen such huge pussy willows ... they are beautiful. The ones that grow here are quite a bit smaller.
Lewis Grizzard is from Atlanta - he's talking about Atlanta's spring time!
I haven't thought about pussy willows in a long time - I haven't seen them here - but they might be here.
And yes acknowledge God always.
sandie
Hi Ginny, I like Pussy Willows but have never had any where I have lived. Your pictures are quite good! Have a great evening tonight and a brilliant day tomorrow! Great Scripture today (Scripture is Always Great, though).
Hi Ginny, We had Pussy Willows in Virginia --but I don't think we've seen them here....
Bet yours looks pretty on your table.. Happy Spring!!!!!
Great macros.
Hugs,
Betsy
I've always like pussy willows I didn't know they bloomed though, I always thought they just stayed soft and fuzzy :)
Hey Ginny....Love the pictures...So clear and so interesting. These make wonderful arrangements for a dining table or just about anywhere..
Thank you so much for you thoughts and prayers...It has been one busy weekend and today has been super busy as well...Nice to finally be able to sit down and doing some post reading...
Hope your day has been filled with much joy...
shug
Very nice Ginny. It's so nice to see things starting to grow again.
Amen sister! The first day of spring is finally here! a few days ago it was up to 70 degrees....today it was snowing!!!! Still thrilled that at least on the calender it says SPRING. Blessings, Joanne
I learned something new from your post. I did not know that was male and female Pussy Willow trees. Guess I just never give it a thought.
So fuzzily wonderful. :)
I want to thank you for your sweet words over at Susan Etole's site regarding my 2 year old nephew's death.
So many people praying truly does lift the burden.
I love these pictures! I always did like pussy willows. Happy first day of spring, Ginny. (sorry i'm late)
I must look these up. My mom is always talking about the pussywillow trees and bushes... I know we had them in Roanoke but haven't seen any here.
OK, I'm moving up there...that's it. Pussy Willows are what we used on Palm Sunday in Germany and we had tons of them growing on our property - another messenger of Spring and something I yearn to see more often.
We used to paint hollowed out eggs and hang them on pussy willows for Easter...either for the table or on a larger scale where the towns folk all get together and bring their colored hollow eggs to a fountain or public spot to hang them all during Easter.
p.s. pussy willows are great for basket weaving because the stems are so flexible!
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