Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: ‘Iceberg Alley’ – a refreshing choice shrub for 2020
In this withering heat, I remembered a cool plant that was highlighted in my Northern Gardener magazine. Debbie Lonnee is the Product Development manager for Bailey Nurseries and introduces us to this wonderful small shrubs in the article.
‘Iceberg Alley’ sageleaf willow sounded as refreshing as sticking your head in the freezer when you’re having a hotflash! This is one cool stand-out shrub in your landscape. Growing to 3 to 6 feet tall and wide, it adds texture with it’s soft fuzzy foliage and contrast with its silvery shade.
It blooms in spring with a very pretty silver catkin with red stamens that can be cut for early spring decoration. More pics from Pahl’s Market.
As with most Salix, it can tolerate moist soils. It grows best in full sun sites and tolerates pruning beautifully. It’s rated to zone 2, so that means all ya’ll can plant this one! ‘Iceberg Alley’ is a male plant that produces pollen and nectar, making it attractive to honeybees, bumblebees and some butterflies! This beauty has no significant pests or disease issues. ‘Iceberg Alley’ would look fabulous with shrubs that have red to purple foliage such as Ninebarks (‘Summer Wine’, ‘Diablo’, ‘Center Glow’, ‘Ginger Wine’) and some spirea. It was just introduced last year but should be in garden centers now.
As always, contact me with your questions, comments and suggestions. What do you want to know about? Find gardenbite on facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube too. I’ll be sharing drought tolerant plants on tomorrow’s gardenbite.