The pussy willows are out and that is a sure sign that spring is on its way.
Today, it looks like spring and it feels like winter has arrived again after a couple of warm days. Cold strong winds, blue, sky, and a shy sun.
Pussy willows are one of the first trees to break bud in late winter or early spring. The furry pussy willows or catkins on the branches can be white, silver, gray, yellow, black, pink or red. The male pussy willows are larger.When I grew up in Sweden, the pussy willows often opened at the same time as the snow started to melt. The drip, drop, drip, drop of melting snow and the soft pussy willows were such a wonderful sight.
A great idea is to watch together how the buds develop. You can draw or take of photo and make a little diary to explore this little spring miracle.
To make these little baskets with pussy willows you need:
- cardboard
- paper - we used paper that we made with our Gelli Print.
- branches
- cotton-balls
- water
- glue
Form little pussy willows by pulling the balls into smaller pieces. Dip you fingers into water and then roll into a small ball. You can also dip one section of the ball into the water and then form a small ball by rolling it back and forth.
Let the cotton ball dry and put some glue on the bottom and glue onto branches.
Cut out a heart shape, or another shape that you like, and put some glue around, leaving the top open. Glue onto a paper. Put some of the pussy willow branches in the "vase" and enjoy.
For more ideas and to read more about the polar willow go here.
You can also read about the Arctic willow here.