A criminally underutilized wet-tolerant native shrub, Salix discolor has more to offer than meets the eye. Sure, who doesn’t love the fluffy white-to-yellow catkins that appear in March and April, evoking fluffy cat paws? But there’s so much more to Salix discolor than its tactile male flowers. This deciduous, dioecious shrub is ideal for soil retention and erosion control in heavily saturated areas, capable of handling wet feet and periods of floodwater inundation. Known commonly as our native Pussy Willow for the cat-paw-like inflorescences that emerge on male shrubs and its love of wet soils similar to other Willow Family members, Salix discolor makes a perfect plant companion along moist streambanks and pond edges, rain gardens, and bioswales. Their fluffy appearance makes Pussy Willow catkins texturally interesting additions to both fresh and dried cut flower arrangements, where they will hold up for long periods of time.  Medium green foliage follows the dissipation of the catkins, persisting on the shrub until fall when inconspicuous greenish-yellow tones take over. Salix discolor is a fantastic selection for inviting wildlife to the landscape: it is a larval host plant for Viceroy butterflies, and is a beneficial species for the specialized bees in genus Andrena. 

• Category: Woody Ornamentals
• Hardiness Zone: 4
• Height: 12 Feet
• Spread: 8 Feet
• Bloom Color: Yellow, Silver