Whomping Willow

One of the gardens I tend has a very old willow tree.  It is gnarled, twisted, ancient and huge.  And every time I look at it, visions of the whomping willow from the Harry Potter books fill my head.  The smallest breeze stirs up the branches and makes the tree come alive.

But I'm not afraid of this particular willow. (It has never seemed inclined to attack...)  So though it looks rather menacing with it's giant arm-like branches, it seems to be quite gentle.  And it plays host to countless birds, squirrels and insects, which would make it fall on the side of "good".  Or at least I think so anyway.

The truth is that I think of this tree as a gentle old soul.  Knowing the age of some other trees on this property, I would place this tree's age at close to 100 years.  There is no doubt that it has seen many more years than I.  

The willow and the plants around it are looking especially beautiful right now.  Because of our extreme cold temperatures, gardens are having some unusual flowering companions this year.  The Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) behind the willow would normally be almost done flowering, but this year it is in full bright yellow bloom.  The new, pale green willow leaves are just unfurling--a bit late.  And the light green carpet of montbretia (Crocosmia crocosmiiflora) in the foreground is looking fresh and lush.  The pale green and yellow combination of these three plants together is really striking this year.  I suppose this unusually cold Spring is one more way for Mother Nature to play with planting palettes.