I have, or had a whole bunch too and was exited at first to grow them
for the bees.
French Willow make nice arrangement, love the yellow bronze bark
and large pussy but useless for honey bees,....unless mine are not
French?
Last fall I cut several trees down, only have two left, just because of this reason,
our native willow are much superior for honey bees, [early pollen source]
I have never seen one honey bee in the French Willow the last ten years.

Konrad

You are so right Konrad. Never did see a bee on those pussy willows but they will travel all the way across the pasture to get to the native ones.Now I just keep it for picking some in the spring. Ungrateful bees I say!!

What is the trick for propagating pussy willows? I have some, but they're old and dying. I'd love to start a few new ones. (I have no idea what type they are.)

It might be too late now?
I used to start them in spring with cuttings, use the new shoots from last year, [the heavy one's coming from the bottom are good] and cut them in about 12" lengths,
place the whole bundle in a large
bucket with potting soil about half full, I sometimes use shrink wrap
to go around on the sticks above to create a greenhouse effect, keeps
moisture in, poke some holes into the plastic to get some fresh air.

Konrad

Thank you Konrad. I will definitely give that a try next spring. Should I take the cuttings once they have leafed out or before? Should I avoid branches that are in bloom?

Tanja

Tanja, cut them before they are growing...I would think around end
of March, you can start them indoor for several weeks, then when they
push leaf's you can put them out in a shady spot.
You can cut 2 or 3 times about 2 weeks apart, [make different batches]. Then you'll see which way it worked better for you.

Pussy willows can be started any time of year. Cut a switch. 2 year old wood is best, but now you could use this year's.

Strip all the leaves off it.

Cut the stems in pot height chunks. (If you are using 2 gallon pots, about 10 inches) Make the top cut about half an inch above a bud. Make the bottom one 10 inches below that.

Plant in pots with a sandy loam soil. You want a soil that holds moisture without getting sodden.

Put on the north side of the house until you see some activity from that bud. Probably about 2 weeks.

Put in the sun.

Overwinter in the pots. Since you started this late, you will likely get some tip damage. You can reduce this by laying the pots over, burying with leaves, and then burying with snow the first snowfall.

Next spring, plant the ones that overwintered successfully.