# Goat willow catkins and thoughts about things that are enduring
> https://tree-nation.com/projects/climate-smart-forests-transylvania/article/28368-goat-willow-catkins-and-thoughts-about-things-that-are

- **Author**: Transylmagica srl
- **Published**: 2026-03-31T19:42:03.000000Z

We usually smile at folk customs related to the weather and natural phenomena. But it seems that we have also started to act according to repetitive natural phenomena. We always start planting when the catkins of goat willow shrubs are flowering. Sometimes it happens at the end of February, sometimes — like this year — much later. This moment seems to mark the arrival of real spring in the Eastern Carpathians.After a really long, continental winter, the first green patches have started to appear in the landscape, and we are out on the hills with our planting team, with our old-school, absolutely low-tech tree-planting gear.