What IS that plant?That ’s not an uncommon chemical reaction the first time one encounters a witch hazel in the winter garden . Not many winter - blooming shrub exist in the mid - Atlantic area . A few come to listen , such as sweetbox , wintersweet , winter daphne , and winter jasmine , but witch hazel is perhaps the best known and revalue in the winter landscape for its bright , cheerful , spidery - face blossoms and sweet fragrance .
Witch hazels are large multi - caulescent shrubs or humble trees . Besides blooming in the dead of winter when the remainder of the garden is at rest , crone hazel tree provides extravagantly hue yellow , orange or red leafage in autumn , depending on the cultivar . Although it is a dull growing plant , it is deserving the wait when it bursts into prime . The bloom appear in tight cluster along the outgrowth . Each flush consists of four palm - corresponding petals which unfurl and flutter in the winter air on warm days but curl up tightly at dark when temperature drop .
blighter rarely bother this industrial plant , cervid and groundhogs generally pull up stakes it alone , and it is well-fixed to spring up . With so much going for it , this is a plant that deserves greater care and consideration for use in the ornamental landscape painting . Be warned , however , that some witch hazels tend to sucker , which can be a problem if you require to control the overall size of the plant or if you ’re growing a hybrid that is grafted onto native rootstalk . Periodic pruning may be required to take away the sucker but , other than this one publication , the flora requires very little sustainment .
Linnaeus named this plantHamamelisin 1753 when he observed folio , efflorescence , and anterior twelvemonth ’s yield appear all at once on a single native crone hazel . He chose a combination of “ hama ” ( at the same metre ) and “ melon ” ( apple or yield ) for its name . Three native and two Asian species make up theHamamelisgenus : H. virginiana , H. vernalis , H. ovalis , H. mollis and H. japonica .
NATIVE WITCH HAZELS
coarse witch hazel tree , orH. virginiana , is native to the entire easterly half of the United States and Canada , grant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture works database ( seehttp://plants.usda.gov ) . Unlike the other four species of witch hazel , which bloom in the winter or other spring , H. virginianablooms in fall at the same time the leave are turning . As a resolution , the xanthous blossoms lean to contend with the chickenhearted foliage for aid .
Hardy in USDA Zones 3 - 8,H. virginianacan grow quite large ( 15 to 20 foot or more grandiloquent and full ) . It is well suitable to naturalized mise en scene , such as along watercourse or at the edge of deciduous woods but it can also be incorporated into a mixed garden border put up there ’s room for it . The Albemarle County Recommended Native Plants inclination ( seewww.albemarle.org/nativePlants ) indicates that this native bush is an excellent choice for rainwater garden and swale as well as for bioretention basins ( which are used to slow and treat storm water overflow ) . This native shrub perform well in fond specter and is tolerant of full sun or full shade but flowers best in full sunshine . It opt restrained wet but will tolerate moderately dry weather or high moisture sites . It favor well - enfeeble , loamy , acidulent ground but it does tolerate clay filth . And in instance you ’re wonder , the leaves and barque of this American indigene are the source of the Witch Hazel astringent trade commercially and used medicinally .
Ozark witch hazel , orH. vernalis , is native to the Ozark Mountain areas of Missouri and Arkansas . It is a medium size bush , between 6 and 10 foot tall , with a rounded form and showy yellow fall foliage . This species has small heyday , which minimizes their impact in the garden , but the blossoms are intensely fragrant .
A third but venial native species , big - leaf witch hazel tree , orH. ovalis , was discovered in a exclusive county in Mississippi in 2003 and is not currently know to be growing elsewhere . The interesting matter about this species of witch hazel is that the flush come out in various shades of red , whereasH. virginianaandH.vernalisboth have lily-livered bloom .
ASIAN WITCH HAZELS
Chinese hag hazel ( H. mollis ) has a bombastic , rounded form and is fearless in zones 5 to 8 . The blooms , which are bright one-sided and fragrant , appear in February or March and last several weeks . This Taiwanese indigen possesses a powerful perfume which makes it appealing to many people .
The Japanese diversity ( H. japonica ) has an vertical , overt form that typically grows from 10 to 15 foot tall and wide with a rounded , spreading cast . Like the Formosan form , this sort is hardy in zone 5 to 8 and produces fragrant yellow-bellied bloom of youth in February or March .
HYBRID WITCH HAZELS
Here ’s where things get interesting . The immense majority of enchantress Pomaderris apetala sold commercially in this nation are hybrids , which shine under theH. x intermediacategory . These hybrids are the upshot of a hybrid between the two Asiatic species : Chinese witch hazel and Japanese witch Pomaderris apetala . The marriage of these two species has create some very interesting colors and has significantly diversify the prayer of enchantress hazel as garden - worthy shrub .
One of the better hybrid beldam hazel is ‘ Arnold Promise , ’ an up - right field , vase - shaped cultivar with ascending branches and a diffuse habit . It flower later in spring than other witch hazel cultivars and is with child than either of its parents , which is generally true of all theintermediahybrids . It was introduced by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and received a Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain Award of Garden Merit in 1993 . It bears bright yellow flower in late wintertime to early bound . In autumn , its leaf turn chicken to yellow - orange and is quite showy in the landscape .
While many of theH. xintermediahybrids are available in various shades of yellow , which is the colour distinctive of the species , intermediahybrids also look in orange , red , pink and even purple . ‘ Jelena , ’ for example , has coppery scarlet blossom and a broad vase shape . Its orangish - red capitulation foliage is spectacular in the decorative garden . ‘ Diane ’ is a red florescence soma that is not as fragrant as some of the yellow varieties . The University of Connecticut rates ‘ Diane ’ as “ perhaps the finest red - flowering form ” of witch hazel tree available . In recent winter , the showy coppery flushed flowers are striking against a background of coke . The autumn foliage is a copious sensationalistic - orange .
An informal check of local flora nurseries in and around Albemarle county indicates that you ’re most likely to find out specimens ofH. virginianaorH. x intermediaamong their inventories of witch hazels . Of the many hybrid available , ‘ Jelena , ’ ‘ Diana , ’ and ‘ Arnold Promise ’ are the easiest to happen in addition to the native specie . If you ’re interested in growing a witch Pomaderris apetala but want more information about them , check over out the Chicago Botanic Garden ’s internet site ( http://www.chicagobotanic.org ) to learn more about their six - twelvemonth witch hazel trial as they equate 36 dissimilar cultivar from the four majorHamamelisspecies .
reservoir :
The A - Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants , published by the American Horticultural Society , co - editors Christopher Brickell and H. Marc Cathey , 2004 Revised Edition .
Basle , Suzy , The Garden in Winter , 2007 .
Dirr , Michael A.,Dirr ’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs , 2003 .
Viette , Andre and Mark , Mid - Atlantic Gardener ’s Guide , 2003 .
