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Witch hazel adds color to fall, winter woodlands

Although there is one species of witch hazel (Hamamelis) that blooms in fall, most of these woodland shrubs bloom about now - from January into March.

The fringy blooms have four narrow petals and are held close to the branches. Clusters of yellow to red blooms on an airy form create both a dominating, vivid contrast and a delicate, see-through effect on this woody shrub. The farther south a garden is, the earlier this shrub will bloom. With three to four weeks of bloom, this long-lived shrub stands out at a time when many people are tiring of winter and looking for color and life.

Witchhazels are native to moist woodland slopes, at home near a stream under a deciduous canopy where the yellow to red blooms stand out among gray trunks, a brown forest floor and deep green rhododendrons. Although witchhazels can take full sun, especially in the northern ranges and where moisture is available, a woodland canopy protects the blooms from late frost and the foliage from the hot summer sun.

Witchhazels are related to hazelnuts and Harry Lauder's walking stick, with textured leaves that are about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.

These medium green leaves turn a golden yellow before dropping to the ground for the winter. Species native to the Eastern United States were used by the Native Americans to make teas, compresses, steam baths and extracts as a general tonic and for congestions, sunburns and more. Witch hazel is most widely known as a mild astringent available in any drugstore. The branches were used for divining rods and bows.

But this native plant also is useful to add color to a winter landscape. The common witch hazel (H. virginiana), native from Minnesota to Texas to the East Coast, blooms in October and November.

Since this is about the same time as the yellow fall color, the blooms may get lost among the foliage display. Cultivars that drop their fall leaves bef

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