Salix sachalinensis Sekka - Sachalin Willow

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The Salix sachalinensis 'Sekka' is the least original variety of Sakhalin willow, of Japanese origin. This male clone forms a large bush or a small tree often as wide as it is high, the red-brown branches of which take on a beautiful purple-red hue while flattening over time, up until they split. Its early and abundant spring flowering is another asset of this willow, which produces a multitude of large, feathery, silver then yellow catkins, before the elegant, beautiful, shiny green foliage appears. Decorative all year round, this unusual willow has its place in an inquisitive person's or a collector's garden, or in a Japanese or contemporary style garden.

The Sakhalin Willow (syn. Salix udensis), from the Salicaceae family, is a botanical species native to northeast Asia and northern Japan. The particularly ornamental Japanese cultivar 'Sekka' is appreciated for its curiously organised flattened branches join and criss-cross, particularly in Japanese floral art and Ikebana designs. The 'Sekka' forms a large bush with a both erect and spreading, as well as twisting habit, which can be kept compact by regular pruning, every 3 years. At maturity, it will reach about 5 m (16 ft 5 in) in height by 4 m (13 ft 1 in) in width, but in some cases it may be wider than it is high. Its growth is moderately rapid. Its branches are slightly twisted with flattened ends, 5 cm (2 in) wide and not very thick. They are covered with a red-brown bark when young, becoming purple-red, traversed by green lines and which split over time. The deciduousconsists of long lanceolate leaves with finely dentate margins, 7 cm (2.8 in) long on average. They are a shiny green on top, rather blue-green and slightly villous underneath, and turn yellow in autumn. This willow only has male aments, produced in abundance at the beginning of spring, usually in March-April on the naked branches. Thicker than on the type species, they are ovoid, 3 cm (1.2 in) long, feathery and silky, light grey when budding, becoming pale yellow when the stamens ripen.

The very unusual Willow likes deep, cool soil as well as a very bright exposure, but tolerates the presence of limestone, or on the contrary acidic soil. It makes a sensation in isolation, dominating a tapetum of Japanese grass, Carex, euphorbias, alchemilla that will not eclipse its particular charm. It can also be surrounded by early flowering bulbs (snowdrops, crocuses, fritillaries, hyacinths). It can also be used in a free or pruned hedge to reinforce the Japanese side of a Zen garden. Finally, consider placing it so that it is visible from the house, in order to contemplate its extraordinary silhouette from the warmth of a window.