lt looks like just the experts I'm seeking! I'm making up my plant list for spring and was planning on putting some witchhazel in the bush I am planning at the back of my property. What I'm not sure is which would be the best variety as they are not common around here. 1) it will be set back quite a bit from my house (although I will see it out the windows no problem) so "bright" colour I think would be important. Which have the best show from afar? (Would the reds show up?) 2) Could you recommend a combination of 2-3 that would extend my bloom time? 3) Since they bloom so early do you set them back in the landscape? Thanks all. I've read the info in the books and seen the small pictures but it just doesn't give me a feel for what it would look like in the landscape. Sharon

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.

They should, although newly planted ones may take a season or so to adjust and settle in before putting on much of a flower show. They bloom consistently in my zone 8 and winter temperatures here can be quite mild - mostly in the 40's and up with just a couple of light frosts - and sometimes not so mild (dipping into the teens now and again) :-) BTW, witch hazels are just starting their bloom sequence right now in my area.

It's possible that the out of season bloom time is a one time occurence in a newly planted witchhazel. More likely, though, is that the plant became mislabeled in the nursery and you have h. vernalis rather than h. virginiana.