Photo: Meneerke bloem
It’s getting colder and as winter sets in I love to think about the spring soon to follow. But before the flowers burst in April and May, you can get some extremely colorful blooms from the genus Hamamelis. This group of small trees & medium to large shrubs are famous for their flowers in February and March. What’s better than seeing pellets of orange, yellow and red sprouting out of branches while snow is on the ground?
For the purist, you can select H. virginiana or vernalis – both are native to the United States though virginiana is more east coast while vernalis has occurred more naturally in places like Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahomo hence its common name Ozark Witchhazel.
For the less than purist, you can happily use H. mollis, x intermedia or japonica – all considered adaptive meaning that they are not considered invasive for more natural places and settings.
There are countless varieties of all these species with all of them blooming between October to March plus having magnificent leaves during the warmer months. They do vary with how much cold they can take, so it’s important to make sure you don’t live to far north before you plant them.
For me, I like to use them as either anchor plants for a lonely corner or as a grove of trees. In mass, they delight the senses right when many people need that reminder than there is life after freezing temperatures and harsh weather. They are highly flexible in placement because many of these beauties can manage full sun and full shade.
There are countless varieties of all these species with all of them blooming between October to March plus having magnificent leaves during the warmer months. They do vary with how much cold they can take, so it’s important to make sure you don’t live to far north before you plant them.
For me, I like to use them as either anchor plants for a lonely corner or as a grove of trees. In mass, they delight the senses right when many people need that reminder than there is life after freezing temperatures and harsh weather. They are highly flexible in placement because many of these beauties can manage full sun and full shade.
RSS Feed