Willows...
Hybrid, eh? We have a dozen or so types of willows here on our property. Several are natives (Red, Sitka, Scholer, Hooker, Pacific and one or two others) and some from nerseries (French, weeping, twisted/tortured, and a few hybrid named types that I cannot remember off the top of my head). We have them around our ponds that flood here every year. Most will tolerate standing water and flooding. Some grow in water year round. Pacific and Hooker in particular grow in the middle if streams here. I have planted many of them along the stream banks here that flooded out last year. They all grow fast... 3-4 ft from stakes the first year.
Rather than spend money on a willow, find one that you like next month and cut some branches off. Cut section 2-3 feet long and as wide as your thumb. Cut the base at a 45 degree angle and the top flat. Then drive them into the ground (or swamp) with a hammer, and forget about them. They will thrive. This method is called staking. Now is the time to stake (from now to spring bud break, really, as soon as the ground is not forzen and you can pound them into the ground). Really... I have planted hundreds of willows here on this property this way. I marked the trees in summer for type with colored plastic stretchy survey tape, and that way I can cut the species I want/need and stake them. I am about to plant more soon... I also have a lot of them potted up after rooting them in bundles last year. No need for that fancy potting though... staking works great, fast and willows will soak up a lot of water and prevent errosion along stream and pond banks. They will all grow fast. Main problem here with willows is with deer eating them back pretty hard. Around the house I had to add deer netting around them for the first 2 years so they could grow high enough to not get totally eaten.
Don't spend money on willows! Cut and stake them!
