These are BARE ROOTED plants which can be planted from the end of October until May and will be dispatched as soon as the weather turns cold and they become dormant.The dispatch date depends on the Autumn temperature and varies from year to year. The Violet Willow is a medium spreading tree which is usually coppiced for the colour of its young stems. The young shoots, which can grow up to 2.5m in a season, are purple, with a whitish powdery bloom in winter. Growing Details: Common Name: Violet Willow Genus: Salix Species: Daphnoides Skill Level: Beginner Exposure: Full sun, Partial shade Hardiness: Hardy Soil type: Clay/heavy, Moist, Boggy Height: 800cm Spread: 600cm Description: The leaves of Violet willow are oblong or narrowly obovate, 7-12 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. At first they are thinly woolly but soon become glabrous, dark green and lustrous above and glaucous below. Catkins appear before the leaves in February and March and are short, cylindrical and dense about 2-4 cm long and 0.8-1.8 cm wide. Female catkins are shorter and less decorative than the male