With my wet soils, I’ve been big on planting willows of various sorts. (No, I haven’t been good about writing down species and cultivars.) I like them in summer, though they’re not much to write home about then. Even if they were butt-ugly in summer, I’d still grow them just to watch their buds break.
These are gorgeous – but they would definitely be unhappy here in South Carolina. Right now my garden is unusually dry, and we haven’t close to the dreaded summer months yet. It doesn’t bode well.