There are no willows in Hawai’i— let me phrase that differently. There are no native or invasive members of the genus Salix.

There is a water willow (Justicia betonica), not to be confused with Salix aquatic, also called water willow. J. betonica is a potentially serious weed, according to Wagner, Herbst and Sohmer the authors of the “Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i”. This Asian member of the acanthus family grows along the weedy roadsides of the Big Island. Despite it’s common name, it is not a willow; neither is the water-loving primrose willow (Ludwigia octovalis) whose seeds may have been brought to the islands by the Polynesians on taro plants.

When I saw this bouquet of anthuriums and pussy willows in the lobby of a Waikiki hotel I had to wonder. Did they ship these spring twigs all the way from the mainland so a florist could add an “exotic” touch to this arrangement?

“Oh, those tiresome anthuriums… Oh, those ubiquitous orchids.  If I could only get some temperate twigs, something that said “Spring!” to add to my bouquets.

Pussy willows do say, “Spring!”

Before I left for Hawai’i I spent the good part of a day in the Skagit Valley north of here visiting the willow farm and basketry studio of Katherine Lewis and Steven Lospalluto at Dunbar Gardens  (pictured above and below). Steve was in the first stages of the late winter harvest. The day, splattered with rain and clouds, chilled and warmed me willy-nilly. I love this early time of spring, when spring is still winter officially, when swellings come on slowly, but you know we are moving forward.

Maybe it is my impatience that has made me a willow collector; I am up to 45 different species and cultivars of the genus Salix. I love their early emergence.

Besides what else would I grow? I live on the edge of a swamp in a flood plain. Actually what grows here quite spontaneously are willows. We have several species of native willow growing in scrambled abandon on the fringes of our property, introducing more seemed like the natural thing to do.

Willowing the willow’d land, like bringing coal to Newcastle.