Silent Sunday – Witch Hazel

About Eliza Waters

Gardener, writer, photographer, naturalist
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62 Responses to Silent Sunday – Witch Hazel

  1. Dale says:

    So that is what it looks like!
    Very cool ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. John says:

    Looks wicked… ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

  3. Anne says:

    Like Dale, I have never before seen what witch hazel looks like ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Eliza Waters says:

      The Asian varieties are among the first bloomers in spring, so have merit for pollinators hungry after the winter. Our native one here blooms in the fall and has smaller, less showy flowers. Blooming at ends of the seasons is good for bees as well.

  4. Maria says:

    Interesting! I would love to know the name of all the plants I see, like you seem to do. I do know many of the native plants around me, but far from all.

    • Eliza Waters says:

      You can use a plant ID app… you take a photo and upload it and it comes back with closest matches. Not sure if the US one would work, but there must be EU ones. It’s a good way to learn new plants and flowers. I used it on my trip west last fall, where there are lots of unfamiliar plants.

  5. Pingback: Silent Sunday โ€“ Witch Hazel | Purplerays

  6. Believe it or not, I also have never seen the flowers. But I’ve seen the leaves in summer so do know where to look. ๐Ÿ™‚ In your garden?

  7. Alice says:

    I do know several areas, from past walks in different woods nearby, where Witch Hazel grows. Blooming in late autumn, on umbrella shaped trees, there’s often a group (coven?!) of them. I think it’s fun to see their happy color in the woods.

  8. It’s a nice break from all the pinks and whites of spring.

    • Eliza Waters says:

      Thank you, Judy. We have the fall blooming one in the woods, but I’ve been wanting a spring one for years. This might be the year I get one. I’ve read C. mollis is the most fragrant. ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Pepper says:

    It is lovely but I can see how it got itโ€™s name. ๐Ÿ˜

  10. My father used to keep a bottle of witch hazel extract in his medicine cabinet. I never knew what the plant looked like. I think he used it to soothe insect bites after working in the garden.

  11. Cathy says:

    A pretty one. Hope it smells nice. Mine didn’t have much fragrance at all this yearโ€ฆ. too cold perhaps?

  12. Pretty yellow flowers! I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen witch hazel when out in my area and just looked it up, wow it is native to Maryland, I didn’t know this! I also read the fruit is eaten by birds, beavers, rabbits and, oh my! an occasionally bear. Watch out for them there bears, Eliza! ๐Ÿ˜‰ I’ll be looking for witch hazel now and for sure next fall/winter, I think I don’t have to worry about the bears though. ๐Ÿ˜‚

    • Eliza Waters says:

      This one was growing in a nearby botanical garden and is a non-native hybrid, but they sure are lovely to see in early spring. I have lots of the fall-blooming C. virginiana, but the flowers aren’t nearly as showy. Your area has two other natives that are spring bloomers, so they might be hidden in plain sight!

  13. Adele Brand says:

    Most unlike the European hazel Corylus avellana! Pretty though.

    • Eliza Waters says:

      Nor like our fall-blooming native one, this one is the exotic Japanese cousin at the local botanical garden. The new hybrids are so tempting, but I’m trying to plant natives these days. Although this one has merit as it provides a very early pollen source.

  14. Spring is coming! I have never seen witch hazel in our area.

  15. I remember witch hazel from barber shops in the 1950s.

  16. shoreacres says:

    I’ve never seen witch hazel, although I know we have a native. I think it’s mostly in east Texas, or at least in more wooded areas. For a while I confused early dodder with witch hazel, and was a bit downcast when I discovered dodder’s a parasitical plant.

    • Eliza Waters says:

      I’ve seen time-lapse videos of dodder, and it seems almost reptilian, searching about for prey! Witch hazel (interestingly, the same species grows here and there), requires a cold dormant period, so I imagine it only grows in cooler parts of TX.

  17. Tina says:

    Such interesting little trees. There is a native here in Texas (as Linda mentions). I’ve never seen it for sale or in the wild. I wonder why?? Lovely photo!

  18. cindy knoke says:

    I have never seen this before! Thanks for posting.

  19. gaiainaction says:

    Always admired this tree/shrub but never quite grew it in my garden. It is beautiful Eliza!

  20. Murtagh's Meadow says:

    Lovely

  21. Kris P says:

    Such lovely and unusual flowers.

  22. Debbie says:

    I wouldn’t have known what this was without your explanation, Eliza. Thanks for educating me today!

  23. pbmgarden says:

    The fragrance must be a delight. Beautiful!

  24. Karen Lang says:

    Very cool โ˜˜๏ธ๐Ÿ€

  25. How nice to see it thriving in the winter.

  26. Lovely! Our are done, so it’s lovely to see fresh flowers

    • Eliza Waters says:

      Thank you, Allison! As this was taken in the warmer valley on Mar.3, I assume it has finished as well. If it was in my yard, it’d probably be just coming on! ๐Ÿ˜‰

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