Salix integra 'Hakuro-nishiki' (Willow)

Common name: Dappled Willow 'Hakuro-nishiki'

Description: Salix integra 'Hakuro-nishiki' is one of the most distinctive and eye-catching of all ornamental shrubs for the British garden, offering a foliage display of quite remarkable and unusual beauty that is unlike almost anything else available to the temperate gardener. In spring, the emerging shoots produce a spectacular and arresting flush of new growth in a brilliant combination of white, cream, and soft pink variegation that is so densely and vividly coloured as to give the entire plant the appearance, at a distance, of being in extravagant flower — a quality that makes it one of the most talked-about and admired shrubs of the spring garden. As the season progresses and the leaves mature, they settle into an attractive mottled combination of soft green, white, and pale pink that retains a light and luminous quality throughout the summer months, providing a long season of gentle but distinctive interest. The young stems are an attractive coral-pink to orange-red, adding a further note of warmth and colour that is particularly appreciated in winter when the bare stems provide a pleasing structural display. 'Hakuro-nishiki' is most commonly encountered as a standard or lollipop-headed tree, grafted onto a clear stem to display the ornamental foliage at eye level and create a neat, formal, and highly effective garden feature that suits contemporary, Japanese-inspired, and traditional garden schemes with equal ease. It responds very well to an annual hard pruning of the head after flowering in spring, which encourages the vigorous production of the most brightly and intensely coloured young growth and maintains the compact, rounded shape of the grafted head. Whether grown as a standard, a multi-stemmed shrub, or a clipped specimen in a container, 'Hakuro-nishiki' is a plant of real character and charm that earns great admiration throughout the growing season.

Other benefits: spectacular spring foliage variegation in white, cream, and soft pink; attractive mottled summer foliage of continued interest; ornamental coral-pink winter stems; responds well to annual pruning for strongest new growth colouring; versatile as a standard, shrub, or container specimen; suitable for a wide range of garden styles including contemporary and Japanese-inspired schemes

Wildlife attraction: bees and other early-season pollinators attracted to the catkins; caterpillars and associated insectivorous birds

Height & spread (approx.) at 10 years: 1.5m x 1.5m as a pruned standard; larger if unpruned

Position: full sun to partial shade; spring variegation colouring is most vivid and intense in a sunny, open position; tolerates partial shade though foliage colour will be less pronounced

Soil pH: adaptable; performs well in neutral to slightly acid soils; pH 5.5–7.0; tolerates a wide range of soil types including heavy, wet clay soils where many other ornamental shrubs would struggle

Moisture: moderate to generous watering required, particularly when establishing; tolerates and indeed thrives in moist to reliably damp soils; suitable for planting near water features, ponds, and in low-lying areas prone to seasonal wetness; avoid prolonged drought

Winter hardiness: fully hardy to approximately -20°C; no winter protection required anywhere in the UK