Coral embers willow (Salix alba ssp. vitellina 'Britzensis') - nothing special in the gardening' world, just a fast-growing, hardy, colorful shrub for a large area - is a real delight this time of year.
When the leaves fall in autumn, it shows off its branches for the winter: yellow, orange, red in varying degrees all over...and it really stands out in a winter landscape. Add some snow and you will really appreciate it.
It's inexpensive to buy, it's vigorous (grows 2-3 feet a year), gets large (my 9 year old specimen reached about 13 feet this year), gets woody (you need to trim it back), serves as a great nesting place for all kinds of wildlife (I've seen it all), and looks really cool when it snows especially.
It serves as a great screen shrub, and you can pick it out in the winter from quite a distance (if you happen to have trouble finding your house).
Important: it needs to be trimmed back as far as possible into the current year's wood EVERY year, or it gets very large. So, in Feb-Mar, before leaves start to come out, go out and trim everything but an inch of the colorful stems off. The new growth will start from here, and the further you cut it back, the more colorful it will be the next winter.
Here's a way to propagate: Put your cuttings in a bucket of water and once they root, plant them in the ground, and they seem to do just fine. They are not fussy about soil, like sun, and after a year will start giving you a colorful winter backdrop.
Captured from a previous post by Jerry Lewis, Master Gardener (January 2013)
CKagan, Master Gardener
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