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Some time in recent history, in rural Bossier Parish, a black willow seed settled in an abandoned boot, in a forgotten ice chest, in the back of a derelict pick-up. The boot and the ice chest proceeded to fill up with detritus. Despite a singularly inauspicious beginning, a vigorous plant came forth, growing in full sun and living on accumulated rain water and whatever nutritious fare that floated through the air and landed in the unexpected "flower pot".
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Then, that black willow (Salix nigra) came to live at the Centenary College arboretum.
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The black willow and its boot were easily removed from the ice chest.
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Interestingly, 13 intact bottles of Aquafina water were in the ice chest, along with other refuse. There was only a thin layer of leaf litter, mostly pine needles, mixed in with the plastics. In some Mad Max universe, we might be happy to have the bottles of water, but, we aren't there yet, so they found their way to the dumpster, along with the ice chest.
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The young tree has produced an impressive root ball, surrounding its beloved boot.
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For the most part, the roots were easy to detach from the boot, with a small exception, so a piece of the boot was cut out, to be buried with the root ball.
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The black willow is now in the ground of the arboretum, in full sun, approaching the Fitness Center. This is near the bottom of a gradual slope.
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Our weedy black willow is clearly a tough plant. How will it like the ground of the arboretum? As long as we don't let it dry out for too long, and the Louisiana winter makes that unlikely, it ought to do nicely.
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There was a young willow who lived in a shoe
in a chest in a truck, that just won't do.
It's out of the boot and off to the arboretum
to be planted for students in hopes that you please them.
