Witchhazels are blooming; spring is close

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Signs of spring are showing up in my landscape and it gives me nothing but good feelings. My witchhazels, Hamamelis X intermedia, are blooming and this really makes me happy. The Cornealiancherry dogwood or Cornus mas should start to show color soon.

Hamamelis is the genus for witchhazel. In this genus, there are three common species that we find in Ohio. The hybrid mentioned above and H. Virginiana and H. mollis. When referring to a species, after writing Hamamelis the first time, you use H.along with the specificepithet (the second word). Together these two words (Genus + specificepithet) make the species.

H. virginiana is common witchhazel and is found in woodlands around Ohio as it is native. It has yellow blooms in the fall, sometime in October and into November in central Ohio. H. mollis is the Chinese witchhazel and is quite fragrant, but I don’t see a lot of it grown due to lack of hardiness.

The most common witchhazel that you find in nurseries are those that are hybrids or crosses, thus the H. X intermedia. The X in any Latin plant name indicates a cross.

Many of the hybrids are also fragrant and most tend to bloom in February and March, the earliest shrub in bloom in the landscape.

Witchhazel prefers to be an understory plant, or along the side of a woods or protected by trees. It grows more like a small shrub, sometimes up to 20′ tall, but it can be pruned into a tree form. I have never seen a tree form of witchhazel.

Sources will indicate that this plant does best in an acidic soil, but they also grow in our higher pH soil and in the clay as well.

The blooms are unlike any others you are likely to see. They are in a cluster on the branch, with four ligulate petals. Ligulate means the petals are strap-like. They are up to an inch long and very narrow, giving the appearance of confetti.

The flowers are typically fragrant, though some more fragrant than others. They last quite a while and of course, are dependent on the temperatures in the spring. Mine started to bloom in the early part of January when we had the warm spell, then stopped, and are now in full bloom.

Flower colors range from yellow, to orange, to reddish orange, red, and copperish depending on the cultivar. One of the earliest cultivars, Arnold Promise has bright yellow blooms with a reddish base. I have one called Diane that has copper-red flowers.

Many of the cultivars have nice golden fall leaves that hang on until late winter. They do turn brown but they don’t detract from the landscape.

I have three of them in my perennial border underneath the trees. I have noticed over the years that the yellow cultivars stand out much better than the darker cultivars from a distance.

Since this is an early flowering shrub, it attracts the early season pollinators such as honeybees. During the mid-afternoon on a warm sunny day, you will find the pollinators.

Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master gardener volunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

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