The vernalis species Witch Hazel is native to the Ozark Mountains through Oklahoma and Louisiana. It offers a neat-looking multi-stemmed shape, excellent fall color, and tassel-like winter blooms. Witch Hazel, or hamamelis, is an interesting plant, with enough cultivars in the family that is can be difficult to keep track of them all. This particular plant is not a cultivar and was field grown, so it can have a variety of flower colors from yellows to reds. Flowers are 1" tassel-like blooms that appear between December and early March depending on location. For us, these blooms help break up the winter offering a glimmer of color in an otherwise quiet season. Each bloom carries a slightly sweet scent that will take your imagination toward the warmer days ahead. Vernalis tops out at 6-10 ft. tall and 10-15 ft. wide. It is a very hardy plant and has few problems with disease. Witch hazel is an under-appreciated plant in the United States, but most homes in Europe, particularly Germany, have at least one witch hazel in the garden. Vernalis grows natively in gravely river banks and moist soil, but can tolerate often saturated clay as well as loamy rich soil. It is an important food for pollinators in the warm periods of winter when insects may be forced out of dormancy.
