The Strange Young Grey Willow Plant

Young Grey Willow plants are strange. They look nothing at like what they do when they get older. Look at the image below of a baby example in a pot. They grow flat and spread out across the pot. With some plants and trees you can instantly tell what they are. But with Grey Willow, they make a strange transformation at some point, where they take on their more older, more recognisable appearance. Also, I know Willow are known for rooting, and this species is no exception. Young Grey Willow roots like crazy.

And the growth rate is unbelievable. One day there's the start of a few new leaves, the next day they are fully sized and there's more new little leaves sprouting. I've never seen growth quite as fast as that. I'm not feeding them anything special. In fact I've only really fed them water. Some seed sellers market the Paulownia Tomentosa as one of the "Fastest Growing Trees".

I've grown Paulownia Tomentosa and I can tell you, this is nothing but a myth. In my experience they don't grow fast at all. They have nothing on Grey Willow. Can't wait for the one in the image to get more mature and see how it transforms. Since writing this post a few days ago it is now twice the size. I might update this blog at some point to show its progress. Weird magical Willow.