{"id":2523,"date":"2018-10-01T05:02:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T13:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2523"},"modified":"2018-10-01T05:02:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T13:02:45","slug":"weeping-willow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/weeping-willow\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeping Willow"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEEPING WILLOW<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept<\/em>
\nwhen we remembered Zion.<\/em><\/p>\n

There on the poplars<\/em>
\nwe hung our harps<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those exiled Israelites of Psalm 137, weeping by the waters of Babylon, could not have known that centuries later, a Chinese tree with long, drooping branches would be christened Salix babylonica or, more commonly \u201cweeping willow\u201d.\u00a0 The great eighteenth century Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, well-schooled in biblical imagery, referred back to the psalm in an effort to find an evocative Latin epithet that would capture the trees\u2019 distinctive growth habit.<\/p>\n

As the psalm translation suggests, the trees in Babylon were not willows, but poplars, which are willow relatives.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter, since the name refers to the growth habit, not the tree variety.\u00a0 In the horticultural world, just about anything with drooping branches is described as \u201cweeping\u201d.<\/p>\n

And that is how the weeping willow came by its melancholy name.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s \u201cweeping willow\u201d is a large, graceful tree, up to 50 feet tall and almost equally wide, with narrow leaves and long, drooping branches that reach almost to the ground.\u00a0 Often the trees grow near water or at least in damp places.\u00a0 A willow tree growing on what appears to be high, dry ground may actually indicate the presence of underground water.<\/p>\n

Despite its beauty and poetic associations, weeping willow is not right for all planting situations.\u00a0 The willows are very large at maturity, so the average urban or suburban lot is too small for a full-grown tree.\u00a0 Plant them too close to structures and the roots may infiltrate pipes or foundations, causing all kinds of trouble.\u00a0 Weeping willow rarely works as a street tree for the same reasons.\u00a0 These days many people also dislike trees that shed a large amount of \u201clitter\u201d in the form of dropped leaves, twigs and branches.\u00a0 Willows are always guilty when charged with littering.<\/p>\n

Still, if you are planting a large lot, park or king-size rain garden, weeping willow is a perfect addition.\u00a0 It grows fast, provides excellent shade and its roots help to filter polluted run-off water.<\/p>\n

Some sources say that the original Salix babylonica trees journeyed from China along the old \u201csilk road\u201d trade route that united Asia with the west and really took off after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE.\u00a0 The trees eventually caught on in Europe and finally arrived in America with early settlers.\u00a0 Somewhere during that long span of time, the true species died out in the wild, replaced in commerce and landscapes by a hybrid with a weeping habit.<\/p>\n

No matter what is going on with the weeping willow\u2019s DNA, most people, including all plant vendors, still call the large, drooping trees Salix babylonica.<\/p>\n

Earlier generations of people, who were more concerned with a tree\u2019s utility than its grace, discovered that the weeping willow was a cornucopia of good things.\u00a0 Branch tips contain a natural rooting hormone, which is useful in the propagation of many species.\u00a0 The long, flexible branches have long been used for weaving baskets, furniture and wattle fencing.\u00a0 Centuries ago, willow was also bent and carved into harps, which is very much in keeping with the verses of Psalm 137.<\/p>\n

Willow has also given us the gift of pain and inflammation relief in the form of salicylic acid.\u00a0 Derived from willow bark, which was traditionally steeped to make medicinal teas and other decoctions, salicylic acid is the active component in many common, over-the counter pain relievers.\u00a0 In the nineteenth century German chemists produced a souped-up, synthesized form of the traditional willow-based remedy and by 1899 it was marketed by Bayer under the brand name \u201caspirin\u201d.<\/p>\n

While late Victorians may have used a willow-derived product for pain, the previous generation was drawn to the tree\u2019s symbolic \u201cweeping\u201d nature.\u00a0 Mourning was a prolonged and serious business in the mid to late Victorian period.\u00a0 Following the lead of Queen Victoria\u2019s extreme mourning for her husband, Albert, who died in 1861, Victorians created all kinds of mourning rituals and talismans.\u00a0 Mourning art of the period often depicted weeping willows, sometimes in the company of funeral urns or other memorial memorabilia.\u00a0 Twentieth century illustrator, Edward Gorey, used this art as an inspiration for his black and white drawings.<\/p>\n

Whether you are moved by willow\u2019s traditional associations or not, it is hard to ignore the beauty of a mature specimen reflected in still water.\u00a0 If you have the right situation, a weeping willow is an excellent landscape investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEEPING WILLOW By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps \u00a0 Those exiled Israelites of Psalm 137, weeping by the waters of Babylon, could not have known that centuries later, a Chinese tree with long, drooping branches would be christened Salix babylonica … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[1964,762,1965,1963,1962,1960,1478,1966,1961],"class_list":["post-2523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-chinese-plants","tag-historic-plants","tag-mourning-art","tag-rain-garden-plants","tag-salix-babylonica","tag-salix-family","tag-shade-trees","tag-symbolic-plants","tag-weeping-willow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2524,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions\/2524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}