Episode 693 – The Wonderful World of Willows with Alana Karam of Willamette Willows
https://youtu.be/14Tb-BfiW6U?si=-oTJseUbcNEP22uU
It’s Willow Week here at the Slow Flowers Podcast and Alana Karam of Willamette Willows is my guest. Learn about the three distinct categories of willow plants and their markets – including cultivars suitable for basketry and woven garden structures, as well as the many varieties of curly willow and pussy willow loved by floral designers. Alana breaks it all down and I for one am wondering why more flower farmers aren’t getting into the willow market!? You’ll learn all about the potential offered by Salix, this unique and beautiful genus.
Alana Karam (left) and leafy willow plants (right)
Earlier this year, Alana Karam and I started corresponding about her specialty micro farm – Willamette Willows. Based outside Eugene, Oregon, Alana shared with me that willow is a great investment for flower farmers because it provides florists with a local option in late fall and winter, when other botanicals can be scarce, and when so many florists are tempted to order non-local options. As Alana mentioned, “curly willows provide reds, oranges, and yellows. And pussy willow in early spring is so sentimental for so many people…”
Willamette Willows in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley
After I visited Willamette Willows in October, I was even more intrigued. I learned that willow plants are inexpensive to establish and easy to grow. Alana explained that there’s some misinformation out there that makes growing willow so much harder than it needs to be.
The blue sky at Willamette Willows
Today, we’re diving into the world of willows with a two-part episode. It begins with an extensive conversation that I recently recorded with Alana, and if you’d really like to see what we’re talking about, you can watch the second portion, a Willow Tour that Alana and her husband Michael recorded in their growing area.
Woven Willow
Here’s a bit more about Willamette Willows:
Willamette Willows is a small family farm located in the southernmost tip of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. The farm, nestled in the convergence of the foothills, and containing an amazing combination of pasture, orchard, meadow, evergreen forest, wetlands, and ash grove, has been home to many animals, including horses, rescue donkeys, goats, pigs, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and several rescue pups. In this dreamlike setting, Alana and Michael, (along with their faithful farm dogs, Figg, Maggie, and Thor), are privileged to research, plant, grow, harvest, sort, and ship willow to other growers.
Since discovering that both they and the property were perfectly suited to growing willow, Alana and Michael have devoted themselves to learning everything possible about the genus Salix, choosing the best varieties for the myriad uses of willow, and planting thousands and thousands of cuttings. No pesticides or commercial fertilizers are used, and most of their work is done by hand.
Willow, with its prehistoric roots, has played incredibly diverse and important roles in human history and culture, but like many natural resources, it has been somewhat neglected in the new age of plastics and modern conveniences. Alana and Michael are pursuing a mission to be ambassadors for this amazing plant, and to make it, and its uses, familiar and accessible to everyone who is interested in things renewable, sustainable, and beautiful.
Winter at Willamette Willows
Find and follow Willamette Willows on Instagram and Facebook
SLOW FLOWERS WORLDWIDE SUMMIT 2025
In Slow Flowers News, we’ve extended our Cyber Sale Event for the SLOW FLOWERS WORLDWIDE SUMMIT through this Friday December 6th. That’s right! When you register, you’ll receive $50 Off your ticket. The Summit takes place online – January 9-11, 2025 – and you will enjoy 15 hours of amazing floral education from experts including Holly Chapple, Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht, Amy Stewart, Sarah Statham, Pilar Zuniga, Briana Bosch,
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