Basketry willow variety?

What cultivars are good for basket weaving? Bonus if they make pollen for bees!

Hi James,

This web site has some great resources on basket willow varieties and how to manage them, including the stem sizes and how many stems to expect to harvest.

http://bluestem.ca/willows-basketry.htm

I forgot to mention, if you coppice your willows annually which is traditionally the way they are managed for producing basket material, the stems likely will not be mature enough to flower. I am not sure how many years it takes to flowering. Possibly leaving the stems to grow 2-3 years and harvesting them at larger sizes for basketry would allow flowering. In that case you would need to stagger the harvest years so some plants with mature branches would always be present.

Thank you Andrea! That list really helps!

For everyone else's reference:


   S. alba 'Vitellina'
   S. fragilis 'Belgium Red'
   S. triandra 'Black Maul'
   S. viminalis
   S. viminalis 'Superba'
   S. wolfii

These are listed as "historically used." There's also a list of more unconventional choices that can also be used:

, S. integra 'Hakuro-nishiki', S. cinerea 'Tricolor' or S. purpurea 'Pendula