I'm going to ask frances_in_nj to post some images of this Witch-hazel. Show us the whole plant, and then some closer shots of the stems with the persistent leaves, and of the base of the plant where trunks/branches emerge from the ground. With no more information than provided, I would guess that it is quite possible that you could have some suckering of the understock occurring. Many clones of Hamamelis are grafted, and all too often they are grafted onto Hamamelis vernalis - which has no qualms about suckering. As one of the finest growers of Witch-hazel on this planet has stated, when asked about using Vernal Witch-hazel as rootstock: "You might as well graft onto Johnsongrass." Hamamelis vernalis is also well-known to hold dead foliage all winter, masking the fragrant orangey yellow blooms. Let's see some pics...

No offense taken, hoe_hoe_hoe. It's about twelve years old. And you know the old saying about the growth of plants--they sleep, they creep and they leap. In other words, they grow very slowly at first and then--watch out. I had seen Arnold Promise at the Arnold Arboretum here in Boston so I knew it got big tho it didn't happen for several years. But I wanted it for a specific spot against the south side of my house where there isn't much room. Hence, the necessity of hard pruning. One interesting thing I forgot. The very first time I ever saw Arnold Promise was at a friend's house. She had one espaliered against the front of her dark-brown house. It was quite striking. I've never seen that treatment before or since. It seemed happy, tho labor-intensive.

You're in luck -- Fairweather gardens in NJ has a huge selection of witch hazels this fall, including several different varieties of h. vernalis! See the link below. the asian varieties, h. mollis and h. x intermedia, are not fully hardy in zone 5 unless well-protected, and planting in the fall, you risk losing it to root rot if the ground stays wet -- witch hazels have rather sensitive root systems. I've got an h. vernalis 'Sandra' that's in a container that's too small, took a beating in the dry summer, got knocked over for a few days while I was away, and still sets buds. It's about 6 ft. now, after a year and a half, and I haven't had to prune it yet. This is one tough tree. I agree that h. vernalis doesn't have as showy or fragrant flowers as the asian varieties, but it does have great fall foliage, and the spring growth starts out purplish. The straight species h. mollis is supposed to be the most fragrant, with some of the hybrids like 'Arnold's Promise' close behind. In all cases it's a light, clean fragrance, not a heavy perfume, but hey, you can't be too picky for flowers in the middle of winter! Pretty much all witch hazels are spreaders, so if your space is tight vertically, you may very well be better off with a fothergilla major, which tops out at about 6ft, has pretty, scented white flowers in early spring, and excellent fall foliage. It's also tighter and more compact in habit than the witch hazels. If Fairweather is too pricey (keep in mind their plants are much larger and fuller than what Forestfarm usually ships), you can also try Roslyn Gardens for witch hazel and fothergilla selections. Good luck; I think these are great, underused shrubs! Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Fairweather Gardens

My Diane has about 5 years in my garden and was a decent sized shrub (maybe 3'x3') when I planted it. It tends to grow a bit wider than tall - Chris Lane in his book on witch hazels gives its ultimate size as 2.5m tall x 3m wide. However, I'm at the northern edge of the range for H. x intermedia cultivars, so I don't expect that it will ever reach that. I am grateful for the snow cover since it helps with protection on those cold winter nights. Mine has grown slowly and since we still have about 3 1/2 to 5 feet on the ground (depending on the drifting) it is still buried. (My shorter compost pile is also completely buried, and last week when I mistakenly stepped off the path I've packed out to the compost I instantly sank to my hip and had a hard time getting free . . . we are still in full winter mode for a few weeks.) From what I read, neither Diane nor Arnold Promise are especially early bloomers when compared to other witch hazels though they are compared to almost any other woody plant in this area. I think the appeal of AP is the scent and the bright, relatively large flowers, while the deep red-orange color is the appeal of Diane. I would love to have an AP or an Angelly or one of the other scented, yellow, large-flowered H. x intermedia, but Diane is the only one I've ever seen around here, and mail order ones are so small.