# Silky Willow (Salix sericea)

> A fast shrub willow for wet, sunny ground, with narrow leaves silky white beneath and spring catkins that native bees and honey bees visit.

Family: Salicaceae (willow family). Also called Salix grisea, Salix coactilis. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/silky-willow/

![Silky willow (Salix sericea) narrow leaf showing its pale, silky underside against a gray stem](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/silky-willow-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Public domain · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASalix_sericea_NRCS-1.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 6 to 12 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: Stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats
- Native range: 28 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north and west to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN) and south to [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC))
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Wet, Average
- Growth rate: Fast
- Flowers: March to June
- Fruit: Capsules, May to June
- First crop: 5 to 10 years
- Mature spread: 12 ft
- Traits: Tolerates wet soil, Honey tree, Wildlife value
- Sold as: Saplings

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Silky willow is a many-stemmed shrub willow of stream banks, lake shores, swamps and wet meadows across the East, and its narrow leaves carry short, silky hairs beneath. Its branches are brittle at the base, and pieces that break off can root and start new plants. With its narrow, silvery leaves, it is a good native choice in place of the invasive Russian olive. Set it at a pond edge, in a wet ditch or on a stream bank, where it grows into a dense clump of upright stems.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Silky willow grows fast, nearly three feet a year in our growth estimator, and reaches about 12 feet in 20 years. It makes a dense, upright shrub of many slender, purplish stems, 6 to 12 feet tall and up to 12 feet wide. It is fairly short-lived, as fast willows often are.

Catkins open from March into early June, as or just before the leaves unfold, and native bees and honey bees visit them. The small capsules split in late spring and early summer to release cottony seed. The leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, dull green above and silky beneath. Caterpillars of the Acadian hairstreak and the viceroy feed on them.

It grows wild from Nova Scotia and Quebec south to Georgia, west to Arkansas and north to Wisconsin. Its home is wet, boggy shores, sandy terraces and rocky ledges along streams, low woods, sedge meadows, acid bogs and seeps. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Delaware and Wisconsin.

## How to grow Silky Willow

Silky willow grows in full sun or part shade, in soil that stays moist or wet, and it stands water that pools for a time. It takes clay, sand or peaty ground but does poorly in alkaline soil. Plant it 6 feet from a wall and set plants 4 feet apart. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the wet native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Willow seed lives only a few days, so sow it the day the capsules split. Press it onto wet, bare soil in sun, uncovered, and keep the bed moist. Stem and root cuttings are other ways to raise it.

Unless the ground stays wet, water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, every two to three days until week 12, and weekly through the first two summers. Deer and other browsers eat it, so cage young plants where they are common. It sprouts back from the base when cut.

Plants are male or female, and bees carry pollen from the male catkins to the female ones. As with other willows, seedlings take 5 to 10 years to bear seed. It has no serious pest or disease, but its wood is weak and the brittle stems break easily.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Salix sericea](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/salix-sericea/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Salix sericea](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SASE)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 7: Salix sericea Marshall, by George W. Argus](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242417204)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Salix sericea, silky willow](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/salix/sericea/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Salix sericea](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/SASE)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Salix sericea](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.130815/Salix_sericea)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Salix chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Salix.pdf)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- Other willows (Salix) we grow: [Bebb's Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bebb-willow/index.html.md), [Carolina Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-willow/index.html.md), [Florida Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-willow/index.html.md), [Missouri River Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/missouri-river-willow/index.html.md), [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md), [Prairie Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-willow/index.html.md)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [American Wisteria](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-wisteria/index.html.md), [Buttonbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/buttonbush/index.html.md), [Pale Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pale-dogwood/index.html.md) and [Wild Black Currant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/wild-black-currant/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [River Birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/river-birch/index.html.md), [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) and [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Missouri River Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/missouri-river-willow/index.html.md), [Bebb's Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bebb-willow/index.html.md), [Prairie Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-willow/index.html.md) and [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Silky Willow, add ?species=silky-willow with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=silky-willow&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Silky Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=silky-willow): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Silky Willow as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=silky-willow (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Silky Willow is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=silky-willow (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Silky Willow needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 5 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=silky-willow:5
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Silky Willow where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=silky-willow&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Silky Willow goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=silky-willow&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Silky Willow flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=silky-willow