Salix daphnoides var. Aglaia

Violet Willow Trees

This ornamental Violet Willow, Salix daphnoides Aglaia, is a male variety of the Violet Willow, Salix daphnoides. It is often pollarded or coppiced to encourage a constant display of young stems, which have the best colour. Because all Aglaia plants are male, they won't make any seeds. The fluffy catkins (which appear before the leaves) are silver-grey when they are new, later developing a bright coat of yellow pollen. This contrasts wonderfully well with the young, brightly coloured bark. Several species of butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves of this tree and even though it is infertile, it still provides a source of early pollen for bees. Violet Willows love moist acidic, peaty soil and are often found on mountainsides in the wild, where they enjoy the high rainfall - we don't recommend this tree for a dry garden unless you are happy to water it frequently. However it is on of the few willows that will really thrive on the coast. It's not suitable for chalky ground and needs a sunny position, though it is hardy.

Salix daphnoides Aglaia is an excellent choice for pollarding and our standards are good for doing so at a height of 2-3 metres). Cut back hard every 2 years for the best display of young stems. Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver but you can also buy wild Violet Willow plants in smaller sizes here.

Browse all of our other varieties of Willow trees for sale.

How Standard Trees are Measured: All our standards, are graded by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level (basically, their trunk's waist measurement). They aren't measured by their height, which will vary. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height. Standard trees are 2.5 - 4.5 metres tall (on average) when they arrive; they are the most mature trees that you can buy from us.

History & uses of Salix daphnoides Aglaia: The Violet Willow is a European native, widely found in a belt between Greece and the Baltic Sea. It is mainly grown for its decorative bark