In those earliest blanched days of spring, the improbable sight of a fuzzy catkin can prove enormously cheering. Not only is it a promise of the life soon to burst forth, but it is also a beautiful textural vision in and of itself. Move over dainty snowdrops – catkins, some with pendulous forms that sway in the wind and others with an irresistibly silky covering of down, are the underrated stars of the early months.
Taking their name from the Middle Dutch word ‘’, meaning ‘kitten’, possibly because longer types resemble kittens’ tails,
