(02/04/2010) Inhaling deeply of the perfume from a pair of venerable Chinese witch hazels covered with yellow flowers on a (relatively)
 Abby Jane Brody
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warm, sunny February day is as uplifting to the spirits to some of us as 10 days on a Caribbean island is to others.
If your dream is to fill your garden with fragrant flowers in the depths of winter, witch hazels are your dream come true. Sorting through the more than 120 named selections, it is a simple matter to have bushes flowering from New Year’s into April.
Flowering is so reliable you can set your calendar by it. I had convinced myself that because of the snow and bitter cold in December, bronze-colored Jelena would open late this year. Not so: My eyes were drawn in its direction by a strong color glistening against the snow during the first week of the new year, right on time. Exactly two weeks later, the purple flowers of Purpurea began to open. The two will be in flower for about two months.
Unlike other winter-flowering shrubs, the flowers and buds of witch hazels are immune to frigid, stormy weather: The petals curl up tight, unfurling and extending when the weather warms up a bit. A huge bonus is that deer don’t touch them, not even for a sample.
Flowering branches in water keep for about a week.
There are four species of witch hazel, two from the eastern United States, and one each from China and Japan. Most of the garden plants are hybrids of the two Oriental species, Hamamelis x intermedia. Thus far, the hybrids offered commercially have been selected from seedlings raised from seed saved from open-pollinated plants.
Colors range from pale yellow to deep yellow and gold, orange, red, and purple. The yellows and oranges are more vivid in the landscape, while the red and purple flowers need to be viewed up close. All show to advantage against snow, but as a fallback position, try to back them with evergreens. The flowers glow in the late afternoon when lit by the low sun.
From the dozens of selections available, how do you decide which to add to your garden? First, I’d recommend reading Chris Lane’s “Witch Hazels” (Timber Press, 2005). Second, attend the second annual Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) Festival at Rare Find Nursery (rarefindnursery.com), not far from Trenton, N.J., on Feb. 13, which will feature about 50 varieties with speakers, plus Dick and Judith Tyler of Pine Knot Farms, offering their superb hellebores.
Mr. Lane, the holder of a national collection of witch hazels in England, has grown and observed them for 25 years. In addition to his own observations, his book includes information about award-winning plants from important Dutch trials and the Royal Horticultural Society as well as information from Tim Brotzman, the foremost grower in the United States.
A year ago I spent a day at Rare Find going from plant to plant with its witch hazel specialist, Bill Smith, on one side and Mr. Lane’s book on the other. The result: a list of my 12 favorites, which have been planted at the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton to supplement those already in the collection.
If I had room for only one witch hazel, it would be either the Chinese Hamamelis mollis Wisley Supreme or the hybrid Arnold Promise. Both are fragrant with yellow flowers. Space would be the determining factor: Wisley Supreme will mature with a spread of 10 feet or more, while Arnold Promise is urn-shaped, narrower, and better suited to a smaller space. Both begin flowering in February, although Arnold Promise opens toward the end of the month.
The bronze-colored Jelena, opening at the beginning of January and continuing into March, was introduced in 1954 at the Royal Horticultural Society, where it caused a sensation. Pressed to name it, Robert deBelder called it Jelena for his new wife. Jelena makes a strong visual impact on the landscape and has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the best.
I was probably most impressed with the deep gold flowers and fragrance of a hybrid from Germany, Barmstedt Gold. According to both Chris Lane and Tim Brotzman, it is one of the best witch hazels and is sure to become more well known. Now you’d probably have to get it from a mail-order nursery.
Orange Peel has been attracting a lot of press recently, and it attracted my attention as well. I scooped up two plants, one for me and another for LongHouse. Its petals are aptly described by its name. It is fragrant and flowers from mid to late winter.
Three other very good orange-flowered shrubs are Robert, which has a good fragrance and is early-flowering, Aphrodite, which received three stars at the Dutch trials and flowers late in the season, and Gingerbread, more compact than most, with clear, burnt-orange flowers and flowering late.
The idea of red flowers on a witch hazel appeals to many. Diane, the original red, never attracted me, but a newer hybrid, Rubin, does and we’ve added it to the LongHouse collection. The clearest red available it will need to be viewed close up.
I’m a pushover for plum-colored flowers even though they have no fragrance. Unfortunately, the nursery where I purchased my plant closed and the plant does not match the description of H. vernalis Washington Park, which Mr. Brotzman suggested it could be when we talked last winter. However, Rare Find carries Birgit, which has strong plum-colored flowers, and we got one for LongHouse.
Witch hazels are not demanding, although it is important that they receive moisture, especially during droughts in the summer. The leaves of my purple-flowered tree are subject to mildew, but it has not been a problem.
Traditionally, witch hazels are grown in woodland gardens, and our local oaks provide an excellent habitat. They also deserve a central place in winter gardens. I now have five different witch hazels growing under the oaks alongside the driveway. They’ve been underplanted with Helleborus foetidus, which the deer ignore, as well as a number of evergreen carexes, daffodils, and scillas.
If my plants were protected from deer, I would take Mr. Lane’s suggestion to add the early-flowering, bright magenta of Rhododendron dauricum and the Korean R. mucronulatum.
Fairweather Gardens (fairweathergardens.com), another mail-order nursery in New Jersey, also lists nearly 50 different witch hazels in this year’s catalog.