Wolf willow is native to the prairies and casts its candy scent alongside fence traces in Could, bringing nostalgic recollections of strolling to high school.
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Russian olive and wolf willow, each members of the genus Elaeagnus, are notably enticing when positioned subsequent to shrubs with purple-red foliage corresponding to most of the barberries and ninebarks — and to not overlook Schubert chokecherry in addition to dogwoods of their fall purple foliage.
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In addition they distinction properly with evergreen timber and shrubs.
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Whereas Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and your common willow (Salix spp.) share a big and billowy look, Russian olive is to dry areas what willows are to moist websites. Elaeagnus is believed to be from the Greek phrase for olive. The species title, angustifolia, means narrow-leafed.
Native to Europe and Asia, Russian olive is a swish, rounded, fine-textured tree, ranging in top from 4.5 to 7.5 metres. The leaves, twigs, flowers and fruit are all lined in tiny gray scales, giving it a silvery look. The lengthy, slim leaves are retained by means of many of the winter, lending it a sexy hoar-frosted look. The inconspicuous yellow and silver flowers, borne in early June, are extremely aromatic and adopted by inedible olive-like fruit (which is a supply of meals for birds throughout fall and winter).
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Russian olives do finest in full solar on well-drained soils. They’re drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant however don’t tolerate flooding or poor drainage. Thorny and non-thorny varieties can be found. These timber are helpful as specimen or shade timber, in display screen plantings and in shelterbelts.
Wolf willow (E. commutata; also called silverberry) is native to the prairies and casts its candy scent alongside fence traces in Could, bringing nostalgic recollections of strolling to high school to those that grew up in rural areas.
An upright and generally leggy shrub of as much as 2.5m, it suckers freely, quickly forming thickets. Place it with care: it may be extraordinarily well-behaved for six or seven years after which dozens of undesirable suckers will emerge one spring as if by magic. On farms and acreages, placement on a saline slough or a septic discipline is good. Little else will develop in these environments and it could actually unfold freely.
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The branches and leaves are lined with silvery scales. The aromatic, tubular, four-petalled flowers are inconspicuous (silver outdoors and yellow inside) however, as soon as inside sniffing distance, you’re very pleasantly conscious of them. The small, silver fruit is dry and mealy.
You may plant wolf willows in full solar and a wide range of soils. They’re saline-tolerant. Wolf willow is used for wildlife plantings, naturalization, reclamation and on banks and slopes to regulate erosion. It offers meals and canopy for birds and is a nectar supply for bees and different pollinators. It’s occasionally discovered grafted onto Russian olive rootstock (to stop suckering), making it useful in a shrub border, particularly if planted the place one can scent the perfume in spring.
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Silverado (Elaeagnus x Jefsil) is a sterile hybrid of Russian olive and wolf willow of about 3x3m with much less suckering than wolf willow.
Zempin is an improved choice, extensively obtainable in Europe however a lot much less so right here in Canada. About 3.5 to 4.5m in top, it has very darkish (nearly black) branches and intense, contrasting silver foliage. It suckers freely!
Sara Williams is the creator and co-author of many books, together with Creating the Prairie Xeriscape, Gardening Naturally with Hugh Skinner and, with Bob Bors, the not too long ago printed Rising Fruit in Northern Gardens. She continues to present workshops on a variety of gardening matters all through the prairies.
This column is offered courtesy of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society, which will be contacted by electronic mail at saskperennial@hotmail.com. Examine our web site (www.saskperennial.ca) or Fb web page (www.facebook.com/saskperennial) for a listing of upcoming gardening occasions.
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