Pussy-Willows

A few days ago, I was driving down a country road not far from home and saw pussy-willow trees covered with the gray fuzzy catkins. They grow wild in the ditches where they get the moisture they like. They can be planted in your yard and that's a good thing, if you remember that they like to take over and can grow to be 20 feet tall. When I went back with my camera a few days later, the catkins had started to lose their fuzzy look and were turning green. Still made for an interesting photo.


The American Pussy-Willow is always a welcoming sight in this part of the country. It means an explosion of growth is about to take place. We sometimes cut the branches in the gray fuzzy catkin stage and bring them inside for arrangements (no water, please).


According to an old Polish legend, many springtimes ago a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river in which her kittens were drowning. The willows at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens who had fallen into the river while chasing butterflies. The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were safely brought to shore. Each springtime since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds at their tips where the tiny kittens once clung.


I found this Polish legend at www.diabellalovescats.com.