Plant Profile - Hamamelis

Published
01/26/2013

Quick Guide: spring, hardy, full sun, height: 7.5m/25ft, width: 6m/20ft

Like the winter-flowering jasmine, witch hazels produce yellow flowers on bare stems before the leaves unfurl. They make good specimen trees or can be incorporated in a shrub border. The branches, with their spidery flowers, can be cut for decoration - they last well in water. In autumn the leaves take on beautiful coloured tints.

GROWING Plant between autumn and spring in slightly acid, moisture-retentive soil on a site sheltered from cold winds. Prune established specimens after flowering, cutting hack unruly branches.

PROPAGATION Layer suitable shoots in early autumn. Named varieties must be grafted on to rootstock of Hamamelis virginiana (common witch hazel) under glass.

SPECIES H. x intermedia, yellow flowers with crimped petals in very early spring, oval green leaves turn gold in autumn. Leaves of the named variety `Hiltingbury' turn variously yellow, copper, scarlet and red in autumn - an outstanding choice. H. mollis (Chinese witch hazel, above), heavily fragrant yellow flowers flushed red appear in mid winter. Good, free-flowering forms are `Brevipetala', with smaller blooms and `Pallida', with paler petals.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Generally trouble-free.