Heartland Harmony
Heartland Harmony
our willows
Following is a snapshot of some of our favorite basketry willow varieties in woven form. Each of the pieces below were made using single varieties from 2-year old plants, to showcase each willow individually as well as show how it performs for each stage of a stake and strand basket.
It's our goal to eventually showcase all of our varieties here, along with photos of fresh vs cured plant etc. and provide more in depth info about each. But for now, we introduce you to this shortlist some of our star nursery stock and most regular additions to our mystery cuttings packs.
Salix purpurea 'Lambertiana'
Lambertiana is a vigorous, large-growing purpurea that, on our farm, typically produces several long, thick rods per stool, with fine branchy offshoots that are lovely for weaving. A very pale, silvery green at harvest, it somewhat uniquely cures and soaks back up to a similar beautiful pale color for weaving. This is one of the first varieties to show buds in the spring, and sometimes maintains bud presence all winter long. This is an excellent choice for large and structural work, as well as hedgerows, windbreak, and live structures. We find it also makes a beautiful ornamental.
Salix interior 'Honey'
Honey willow is a fond name I have given to this particular local variety of Salix interior, one of the native wild willows prominent in the northeastern US. Honey has golden glowing new growth shoots in the winter that cure to peach, orange, reddish tones that make a beautiful contrast to the purpureas in basketry. This variety is rather soft and soaks more quickly than my cultivated varieties, so watch out for bark slippage and oversoak. They also tend to grow shorter with an extreme taper, making it difficult to source uprights for larger projects. Like the other sandbar and coyote willows, this variety spreads by rhizome and should only be planted in areas where it's acceptable to colonize. An excellent choice for remediation, attracting wildlife, silvopasture, and other restoration uses, as well as basketry.
Salix purpurea x daphnoides 'Calliantha'
A purpurea x daphnoides cross, Calliantha is a vigorous growing willow that produces many rods per stool in a variety of grades. Calliantha possesses all the wonderful qualities of the purpureas (deer and insect resistance, vigor in extreme climates, excellent weavability etc) while maintaining the heft and red-purple hues of daphnoides. As a weaver, Calliantha is a joy to use all throughout the basket, with good stiff rods that border well and hold their shape, yet are pliable enough for fine work. Fresh, the rods are green-gray to deep purple and red, darkening slightly with curing. Each stool produces several very large rods, along with finer weavers, making it a good choice for large work, living structures, and windbreaks as well as finer basketry.
Salix rubra 'Harrisons B"
One of several varieties of the Harrisons saga, Harrisons B is a large-growing, chocolate to reddish black-brown willow that adds gorgeous color to the mix, whether in a basket or a winter landscape. These 6-11 ft rods are no joke, and they do excellently when pollarded and given a bit of standalone room. For this reason, they are a top choice for single-row windbreaks and live fences that feature pollarding. At our farm, this variety usually produces only a few large rods per stool with a handful of finer sticks to work with each year. So far, this variety requires the longest soak time of any of the willows I grow, sometimes staying in the soaker twice as long as other varieties. But when it's fully prepared, it can be supple enough to zig zag and use for fine work, and hard enough to make heavy use work like log baskets. It has a very subtle taper, making it great for uprights.
German Basket
German Basket is almost certainly a purpurea, though due to its folk origins, did not travel with its botanical name to this continent. Coined by local willow grower Lee Zieke, this willow was transported to the US by Amana settlers, who smuggled cuttings of this favorite basket willow sewn into their clothes while fleeing religious persecution from Germany. The Amana are known for their willow baskets, and taught several prominent Iowa basketmakers and shared their willow with them. German Basket is similar to the other favorite purpurea basket willows, producing plenty of long weavers of mixed grade per stool and boasting very pliable rods that hold shape beautifully.