Salix udensis 'GOLDEN SUNSHINE'

Japanese fantail willow is a native species from East Siberia, and all parts of Japan. So far there have been only two varieties registered: green-leaved Sekka, and this yellow-leaved called Golden Sunshine. It was found as a natural mutation, a sport of the species, by Izumi Takuya in Japan in 2005. It was patented as PP19370 in 2008.

Golden Sunshine willow makes very elegant, narrowly lance-shaped, deciduous leaves which emerge bright yellow green, mature golden yellow in summer, and turn chartreuse in late summer and autumn. They are 7-10 cm long and withstand summer heat and direct sunshine without sunburn. Catkins are produced in profusion in early spring.

Golden Sunshine willow makes an upright, compact, and bushy shrub about 4m tall and 3m wide. It grows vigorously and can be pruned in any way, best after flowering in order to preserve the first food to bees. It can be an informal specimen or a mid-sized screening shrub. I have my plant in a bog border and from spring till autumn it shines like beacon among other water loving plants and perfectly contrasts with red flowering lobelia, hair-leaved dwarf willows, and swamp mallows.

Willows are so easy to grow - no maintenance needed. They can usually take almost any soil apart from too sandy, sharply drained, dry situations. They don’t mind compacted, heavy or water-logged grounds but need moist soil. Grow it in light shade or full sun with occasional watering on hot days of summer to prevent the leaves from drying out. It is fully hardy to min. -27°C.

Last update 05-03-2018