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Perennials Shrubs

Japanese willow new growth completely green

deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b

11 days ago

This Japanese Willow was planted last year. It got PLENTY of water due to our wet summer. Why are all the new leaves solid green? I know eventually it will need to be pruned, but it shouldn’t need pruning when it’s this young. I thought all new growth would be colored.

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 days ago
I assume this was variegated/dappled when planted? The species itself is a straight pale green. Was it by chance a grafted form? Can you provide a close up photo detail of the leaves?
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
Original Author
11 days ago
It was variegated/dappled. I have only one picture which shows it in the background. If it was grafted, then over one winter ALL branches reverted at once. I purchased it last year, and it looked completely normal. Below is a photo of it last year, in the background:

Here is a detail of the leaves, as well as a photo showing it's not just from the area of the graft.

The tags are still on it. To make it worse, i have TWO of them, all doing the same thing. Purchased, planted at same time.
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Roseman gardens in zone 8A where conditions are very different from zone 6. My modern HT roses in 6b are just now putting out new growth, yours may be coming out in a week or two. JFK often isn't a survivor in our cold winter conditions. If you planted the bud union at or below the surface of the ground, you may see some new growth there. If the JFKs are loose in the soil when you try to wiggle them, they are probably dead. The own root plants of the rose John Paul II might be a good replacement for the JFKs if you still want white Hybrid Teas in that location. Sorry, but you probably have lost some roses. If you've time to read some of the other threads here, you'll see that blackened canes are also a bad thing.
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Chances are the nearly dead ones dried out sooner than the ones that are still green. If they are baking they should develop a dull appearance before going brown. Diligent watering and shading of the soil with mulch are what needed to be done to prevent this. If you planted completely undisturbed root-balls and/or used amended/replaced planting hole backfill that is liable to have made them more prone to drying out. Dig around in the soil to see what is going on. Discovering that the original soil balls are dried out, even if the surrounding soil is still comparatively moist is a typical situation, when planting intact potting soil/field soil rootballs and/or amending/replacing planting hole backfill. Even during comparatively moist conditions, let alone during droughty ones.
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I experimented a few years ago with bareroot clematis and this is what I did: I didn't bury them deeper because I didn't know about that at the time. They did fine, but when they were planted into "permanent" locations they were buried deeper. I believe that the plant should have some green about the soil for photosynthesis. I cannot bring myself to completely bury a clematis. The only way I would do it is if a university held a controlled study and concluded that it made no difference. lol The roots can easily rot or dry out so watch the moisture in the soil. Dead clematis roots are black. Check out the link to see the color of healthy clematis roots. I would have soaked the roots for a bit before plant, but I have also not soaked the roots, so I can't tell you how much of an advantage soaking has over not soaking the roots. Here is a link that might be useful: clematis roots
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Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
11 days ago
last modified: 11 days ago
Mine were grown from cuttings but same as you they started off just green but their new growth has started pushing and that part is variegated. Yours just seem to be foliage emerging from last year growth and that part will be green. It’s what happens to unpruned dappled willows, I didn’t prune mine either. I would wait another few weeks to see
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b thanked Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
Original Author
10 days ago
Thanks, Heruga. ALL the websites say it emerges in spring as dappled, so I am relieved to hear you're getting variegated new growth. I will wait--I'd better get some good dappling, dagnabit!

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