Common name: Common witchhazel
Plant type: Large shrub
Flower color: Sulfur yellow
Bloom period: November-December
Fragrance: Sweet; spicy
Height: 12 feet x 15 feet
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4a-9a
Light needs: Full shade to full sun
Moisture needs: Moderate
Seasonal character: Bright yellow, fragrant flowers in late autumn and early winter
If you've noticed the bloom period of this plant, you already know its most outstanding trait. How can you do without a shrub that flowers at Thanksgiving, providing you with fragrant branches of the holiday table, and lighting up a landscape that is mostly clad in late autumn khakis?
Common witchhazel's sulfur yellow flowers are one of the curiosities of nature: they consist of narrow, strap-like petals that range from half an inch to an inch long, depending on the individual plant. These petals are twisted and kinked, and exhale an ethereal spicy fragrance. These petals (like those of other witchhazel species, all of which bloom just before, during, or just after winter) can roll up during a cold snap for protection. When the weather moderates, they unfurl once more. They remind me of those kids' paper party favors (I'm probably dating myself here) that unfurl when the child blows in them and then roll up again.
The blossoms are followed by brown seed capsules that again are curiously motile, for they literally explode, hurling their seeds like so many tiny cannonballs for a distance of several feet.
Common witchhazel's foliage is a handsome medium green, and almost always pest-free. I say "almost" because of the scores of this plant that I've installed for clients, at one location the plants were attacked by a gall-forming insect never seen before or since. The leaves are rounded, with a lightly scalloped edge and a sort of pleated appearance. They often turn a spectacular yellow in fall.
Now here's the caveat. Some plants drop their leaves promptly, leaving pleasingly bare branches which show off the late flowers to great advantage. But others have a frustrating habit of holding their brown leaves through the bloom period, a definite disadvantage as they tend to hide the flowers. The only way to know is to select your plant when it's blooming. If you find yourself stuck with a sticky-leaved witchhazel, you can always gently remove the foliage by hand.
Common witchhazel is tolerant of a wider range of light conditions than almost any other shrub. In shade, its form will develop upright, vase-like, and decidely less dense than if grown in sun. Its leaves will also (logically) become larger in the shade. In bright sun, this shrub grows much wider than tall, and is bushy, full, and rounded. Judging from the naked skeletons, you'd hardly think them the same species. Although shade-grown witchhazels will have fewer flowers than those grown in the sun, it is natural for them to grow in rather heavy shade. In southern Indiana this a common understory species in mature oak-hickory forests.
Common witchhazel prefers loamy, slightly acid soil that is evenly moist. But it is far more tolerant of drought than its relative, the fothergilla. This plant generally requires no pruning, especially if shade grown.
If you've never heard of the plant witchhazel before, and yet the name sounds familiar, it may be because you've seen witchhazel extract in the drugstore. Witchhazel extract is distilled from the bark of young stems and roots of this plant, and is still one of the best topical vasoconstrictors around. That's why it's a great remedy for puffy eyes. Just like your grandmother advised, soak two cottonballs in witchhazel extract, place over closed eyelids, and take five. And witchhazel extract remains the active ingredient in America's leading over-the-counter hemorrhoid ointment for the same reason: it shrinks swollen blood vessels.
But just because you don't have puffy eyes or other even less attractive ailments doesn't mean you shouldn't include this stellar American native in your landscape. Always think of common witchhazel when a tall shrub for a shady spot is needed. Or, to show its blossoms off to best advantage, situate it against a dark brick wall or a backdrop of evergreens, where its bright yellow flowers will light up dark November afternoons like a haze of golden stars.
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Having a collector's mentality in my plant passion, I've had to learn how to make the best garden choices for myself and others. Here are my very favorite plants--some old, some new--but all plants that earn their place in any garden. Included are the latest and greatest plant introductions from France and the rest of Europe eminently suitable for New World gardens.
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