Make your own willow water:
by gathering about two cups of pencil-thin willow branches cut to 1-3 inch lengths. Steep twigs in a half-gallon of boiling water overnight. Refrigerated liquid kept in a jar with a tight-fitting lid will remain effective up to two months. (Label jar so you won’t confuse it with your homemade moonshine.) Overnight, soak cuttings you wish to root. Or water soil into which you have planted your cuttings with the willow water. Two applications should be sufficient. Some cuttings root directly in a jar of willow water. Make a fresh batch for each use. You can also use lukewarm water and let twigs soak for 24-48 hours.
Ilene Sternberg is a freelance writer and amateur gardener with a certificate of merit in ornamental plants from Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania and a former garden guide at Winterthur in Delaware.
http://www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm