Salix helvetica

About this cultivar:

Salix helvetica is a little gem of the willow family.  Slender, graceful, twiggy branches reach out. From these branches, in the spring, bright buds emerge to form catkins that make the plant resemble a fuzzy caterpillar colony. Shortly afterwards the plant is adorned with delicate, grey-green lance-shaped leaves with silver-downy undersides.

Native to Switzerland as the species name, helvetica, suggests  - you can....bank...on this plant.

Not one for demanding attention or maintenance, it can still steal the show with its understated elegance. Whether as a solo act or part of an ensemble, Salix helvetica brings a sense of tranquility and grace to any garden setting. It has a ability grow almost anywhere, from wet to dry (but not ponds or deserts).

And yup, it has the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

• Position: Full sun, partial shade
• Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert
• Flowers: May, June
• Other features: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit (RHS AGM)
• Hardiness: H7 - Hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20°C), Fully hardy, grows well in Ballyrobert
• Habit: Bushy
• Foliage: Deciduous
• Height: 30 - 45 cm (1 - 1.5 ft) 
• Spread: 30 - 45 cm (1 - 1.5 ft) 
• Time to full growth: 10 to 20 years
• Plant type: Shrub
• Colour: Green, white
• Goes well with: --

About this genus:

Salix (sa-liks), otherwise know as willows, sallow, and osier is a genus of around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Salix is the Latin word for willow - probably originally from the Celtic, sal, near, and lis, water.

They grow just about anywhere! There is so much to say about this genus I'm not sure I'll even start. Any advice should really be species or cultivar specific.