Witch Hazel-The BEST January Blooming Fragrant Shrub for Tennessee

Vernal Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) has to be my absolute favorite shrub for the month of January in Tennessee. I was looking out my kitchen window and I noticed a shrub that absolutely glowed-despite the 20 degree chill in the air. I had to venture outside and get a closer look at the vernal witch hazel.

From a distance the shrub literally glows because the flowers are so small yet there is a lot of surface area that reflects and captures the sun's rays. From up close the shrub is heavenly with its light honeysuckle/jasmine type scent. Awwww, I just want to stand near the shrub all day to smell it's fragrance and bask in its glory. Fortunately for me, witch hazel limbs make great cut stems inside of the house so that I did not have to stand outside all day.

Grow this witch hazel in full sun to part shade. It will be more open in the shade so be sure to leave room for it amongst your woodland garden shrubs. Mine grows under a mature oak tree where it gets partial sun, no water whatsoever, and little care. I have never fertilized this shrub and think as long as it is planted in an organically rich soil with an annual leaf cover of fallen leaves it will grow forever and live quite happily. Of the three witch hazels growing in my garden (Common witch hazel, and 'Diane'-a hybrid) the Vernal Witch Hazel does the best and never fails to bloom in January in my Tennessee garden....

in the garden....

The article on how to make the plant label pictured in the first picture can be found here. 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Plant of the Month-January 09

I thought that choosing this month's Plant of the Month would be extremely difficult, and it is but not for the reason you think! I have to choose between an inside plant and an outside plant; and you of course know I will always go with the outside plant. But I have to give the begonia an Honorable Mention too. This month I have chosen the Vernal Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis), aka Ozark Witch Hazel as January's Plant of the Month. The Vernal Witch Hazel's blooms are pictured above. This plant smells very good, but you have to get close to the blooms in order to appreciate the smell.

The vernal witch hazel just happened to be my choice for Plant of the Month in January 2008 as well. I can't help it, this just seems to be the ONLY plant blooming in my Zone 6/7 garden right now, but that is okay. Hey-blooms in January for me! Fragrant ones too! All of you who grow the witch hazels will understand my excitement. Now there are different varieties of witch hazels and not all bloom in the winter. Some are fall bloomers and some are spring bloomers. This particular one is definitely a winter bloomer. I am not normally a real good planner of specific cultivars for my garden, but I can honestly say I planned this one by researching just the right type and specifically purchasing it at a native nursery in North Carolina. For more information on this nursery and this witch hazel, do see my first post on them.

Just for fun I thought it would be nice to post pictures of all three of my witch hazels. Many folks are not aware of these native shrubs that can give so much joy. All bloom, though at different times so be sure to do your research before deciding on a type. All witch hazels have wonderful fall color. The next picture above is of the bloom of Diane (Hamemelis x intermedia 'Diane'). All information I have seen on Diane says it has orange/red blooms. Mine appear to be yellow though it is hard to make a good judgement since this is a new purchase. It is also very possible that this shrub was mismarked at some point but I can say it was purchased at a very reputable nursery in Louisville, so I am not sure what it going on with this plant. If anyone can help out it would be appreciated. Diane is starting to go by now and that could be part of the problem, plus the fact it is newly planted. I do not count this bloom in my review of the witch hazels because this is a new purchase. I like to evaluate all plants at least one year before I post about them. I purchased this plant in bloom and so far it has had a long period of bloom; which has been fun.

My last witch hazel is the straight species (at least that is what I think as I lost track of the information a long time ago). I am pretty sure it is Hamemelis virginiana or Common Witch Hazel. When I purchased the vernal and virginiana witch hazels at We-Du Natives I specifically looked for these straight types and was not all that interested in the hybrids. These first two were planted in the summer of 2006 and I can honestly say I've been happy with them. The virginiana did suffer more from droughts than the vernal did, but as you can see, it is still just fine. It usually flowers in the fall after most of the leaves have fallen off. This year was NOT a good year for the bloom, but it is still new in its location so we shall see what it does this year.

Because it is winter and I am in a picture taking mood, here are some just for fun pictures of color in the winter garden. Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica) is on the left, and beautyberries (Callicarpa americana), on the right.

I really like both of the plants pictured above with the nandinas being my favorite. I think the beautyberries truly add a lot of color, but it is that awful magenta color! It is not my favorite color in the garden at all. Too bad these aren't blooms as they would be good candidates for Plant of the Month!

Okay, back to the inside plant and my choice for an Honorable Mention. I am kind of old fashioned and think there can really only be one Plant of the Month, so this begonia will have to settle with Honorable Mention. It has been blooming non-stop since I moved it into my craft room back in October. I love the fresh flowers greeting me each day and can't get over its tenacity with its lovely blooms. It is not an angel wing begonia and I am not sure of the variety. I purchased three of these on the discount rack at Wal-Mart. All three are different colors with this color being the only one that is non-stop blooming in the house. It looks like a rose to me. As much as I dislike houseplants this one has won my heart.


Houseplants are wonderful plants for color this time of year and I hope you have a few in your home so you too can enjoy the blooms.

By the time February rolls around, surely there will be some blooming plants outside? Last February I chose hellebores, so let's see if that will hold true again this year. As good as the hellebores look right now I think they are on track to take the coveted title of Plant of the Month again for February. We shall see. What great plants do you have growing and blooming in your garden right now that you would qualify as a superstar? I'd love to hear of them. I realize not everyone who reads this blog is in my zone. There will be a wide variety of choices from all over the world, no doubt about it. I am actually interested in them all. Especially if I can grow them too:)

in the garden....

TN Bloom Day November 2008

The month of November is a big transition month for the ornamental garden, at least here in my garden in Tennessee. While there are still many flowers blooming, they are somewhat timeworn and weary. So without further ado, let's look at what is blooming in the garden....
'Diane' Witch Hazel. A new purchase. Now if I can only find a spot.....found a great spot in the woodland garden.
Japanese anemones. A passalong, cultivar unknown. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this plant.
Purple toadflax. A really neat plant so far. It was newly planted in July and has been blooming since then. It is beginning to come into its own now. I purchased it at a plant sale in Maine. It was simply labeled 'Toadflax'. I thought 'Butter and Eggs' at first, but once it bloomed I knew it was not the common toadflax. I sure wish I knew something about toadflax, as information on the web is a bit spotty. Is anyone familiar with it?
Some petunias survived the frost. I am not a big fan of petunias and do not plan to grow them next year.
'Mystic Spires' salvia still going strong, despite the frost.
'Sunny Blue' veronica. If I ever get around to doing a 'Plant of the Season' post, this one would win hands down, no question about it. It has bloomed since June! And still looks great! An all around superstar.

'The Fairy' rose. It really likes the cool season.

Raspberry Surprise ('Devon Yolande') Dianthus. Also blooming are red dianthus.
Sweet alyssum. A great self seeder in my garden.
Camelia. Pretty sure this is Jean May. At least that is what the tag said when I planted it seven years ago. Camelias are my favorite shrub, hydrangeas follow as a close second.
Pansies.
Red bedding begonias. Sometimes these return in the spring. A special treat. These survived the frost.
A couple of colchium. I am a terrible gardener in that I plant plants over plants and smother plants and so on. This is what is happening with these bulbs. These two actually were able to push through the Homestead Verbena and still bloom. They are late this year.
Still confused azaleas.
'Adagio' ornamental grass. This is the best grass! A bloomer in the shade or sun. It is very reliable and carefree. It is easily divided and does not self seed itself around. It looks similar to 'Morning Light' and is a smallish grass topping out at 4-5 feet with bloom. A superstar for year round interest in any garden.
'Goldsturm' brown eyes. The plant it is nestled next to is euphorbia 'Silver Swan'. A real stunner.

'Jean May' Camelia sasanqua. A full size shot of the shrub. This is one of two pink camelias currently blooming here. The other is much smaller, and not quite as floriferous.
A long shot of the Jean May. In the foreground (from front to back) of this picture is an oakleaf hydrangea (red foliage), a Maresii variegated hydrangea, Compacta holly, the Jean May, then the yellow foliaged tree is 'Sango Kaku', aka Coral Bark Japanese maple. Peeking over the fence to the right of the camelia and Coral Bark is a PG hydrangea. All are growing on the north side of the house and all are very happy here. This is part of my foundation gardens. A big deal here in my gardens and more posts will be forthcoming. I just wanted you to see the size of the camelia in situ.

And finally, yellow button mums-still blooming. Cultivar unknown. The lady who gave me this mum said it is an old fashioned mum and she does not know the name of it. I did research this mum and came up empty handed. I think it will forever be named yellow button mum as Frances calls it. Does anyone know anything about this huge old fashioned mum?

Also blooming but not pictured are: larkspur, Summer Snowflake viburnum, shasta daisies 'Darling', corydalis lutea, and gallardia. It was too late, and I was too tired from working in the garden all day to take more pictures.

Have a great bloom day!

in the garden....

Bewitching Witch Hazels-January's Plant of the Month

While walking around my garden a hunch told me I should look closely at one of my witch hazels, Hamamelis vernalis. The other witch hazel I have is Hamamelis virginiana, Common Witch Hazel. The vernal witch hazel is in bloom! Some say the forsythia is a harbinger of spring and the first shrub to bloom in the new year. Not true! Witch hazels are very early bloomers and much earlier than forsythia. Witch hazels are not as showy as forsythias and had I not been looking, I surely would have missed the bloom. Though witch hazels are not as showy as forsythias, they more than make up for this fault by being very fragrant.

Two summers ago I researched witch hazels quite thoroughly. I wanted to be sure I purchased the exact type I desired. I found two nurseries which carried witch hazels. One nearby nursery was located in Louisville, Kentucky, and the other one was in Marion, North Carolina. Obviously, the nursery in Louisville was much closer and would have been a better option to purchase my witch hazels, but as luck would have it, my in-laws live just 20 miles from Marion. We had a visit scheduled to see the in-laws within a month of researching my witch hazels. So I chose not to travel to Louisville, and instead waited to purchase a witch hazel or two during our visit to North Carolina. When I can shop at a plant nursery while visiting in-laws, I get so much happier about the visit.

The name of the nursery is called We Du Natives, and the website can be found at: http://www.we-du.com/. You really should call ahead if you plan to visit this nursery. The owner is very knowledgeable and told me a funny story about the mother plant of my witch hazel. He has motion detectors set up in his nursery with an alarm to alert him to visitors. (He lives on the property). When he comes out to investigate late night alarms, he said he sometimes smells cheap mens' cologne. He diligently looks around for someone to be there, but when he finds no one, he surmises it is the witch hazel smelling up the garden and perhaps wildlife set off the motion detector. I don't think my witch hazel smells like cheap mens' cologne, but more like honeysuckle. It is not quite large enough to fragrance my whole garden, but will with time.

Witch hazel flowers are not all that showy, but the shrubs do usually bloom before the foliage comes out. Depending on the variety you purchase, some witch hazels can be showy. The tonic witch hazel is made from the bark and leaves of the Hamamelis virginiana. That is usually the first question people ask when I mention witch hazel shrubs for the garden. And no, I am not going to attempt to make the tonic as my pleasure is only in growing the witch hazel.

Most witch hazels are native plants and do best in a woodland setting with rich organic soil. Full sun is probably not the best situation but they can tolerate part sun. The purple-green plant in the the top left corner of the picture is 'Huskers Red' Penstemon, a wonderful little plant I love in the garden.

The witch hazels can get quite large with a large lateral spread. The two I purchased fared well this past summer, even with the drought. They have not grown much but are well established and I look forward to an even bigger bloom next winter. I find them easy to care for in the garden. The fact witch hazels are fragrant and bloom in the middle of winter, make them my choice for January's Plant of the Month.

in the garden....enjoying the first bloom of the new year.