Why did the leaves fall off, I wonder? Did you put it in shade for a week or so after re-potting? Or right back into the sun? Was it indoors in a warm, dry environment? When you say 'chop,' what do you mean? Are you going to get rid of all the pendulous grafted material on top? Josh

salix caprea pendula. goat willow. I am going to try and grow it as a shade ornamental bonsai. It can grow in partial shade so it says online. It might really make an adorable houseplant. Florists sell it so I assume it's a houseplant. As far as this one goes for bonsai, all the work is done, now all it has to do is grow. The thing already has it's forever pot to sit in and everything, to a price paid of under thirty bucks. So I got an alright deal on the thing, even if leaf reduction doesn't happen. Aesthetically it can go just about anywhere in the place and give it kind of a real subtle fairy garden meets goth look. Some of the grafts nowadays really do make nice indoor trees,and really do better inside. This one, in the photo, is interesting because of the way it's grafted, which given five years, perhaps no one will notice, lol. It is a nice gift, I like it.

it looks like it was grafted where the green trunk changes to the brown weeping part ... that means what is sprouting below is not a weeping variety... in most cases ... otherwise.. why graft up top ... first.. do a scratch test down near the sprouts.. between the wood and the bark you will see a green layer.. this is the cambian layer .... lets say the blood vessels of the tree ... water goes up.. food goes down ... then take one of the weeping branches.. and do a small scratch test... if no green.. its dead .... if there is green.. there is a small chance it will recover .. frankly .. and i am sure you don't want to here it.. the odds are low ... if you got it from bigboxstore... find the receipt and return it .. and get a replacement in fall .. i personally wouldn't buy stock that has been on the blacktop since may ... but most stores bring in fresh stock in the fall ... being on both the sprinkler and a drip line.. perhaps you drowned the thing... willow generally like water.. but the roots do need air ... any chance this is all complicated by clay soil??? did you amend the planting hole??? ken

It's early yet! It's supposed to flower in April, and that's a generalization - could happen in May, in NH. It seems possible that the poorer flowering last year was because that was its first spring after being planted out. If it really doesn't flower this year, then I'd suspect lack of light. It's supposed to be tolerant of part shade, but most plants with that sort of description really prefer more light. Of course, if this is a grafted plant, it could be a bad sign that the graft is failing, but there would be more signs, like non-weeping stems growing from the base. (S. caprea is sometimes grafted onto non-weeping roots to produce a standard that weeps from some height, instead of the shrubbier form that is its natural pattern; or so I've read.) I think it may be too early to say whether that's what's going on.