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

Hi Ginny - Isn't Arnold wonderful? Mine started blooming, just barely, before the intense cold set in here, but it's really in full swing now. My other Hamamelis, Diane and Jelena, are just about done, they're quite a bit earlier than Arnold and don't always signal the end of winter for that reason. I'm checking around to see which plants that were blooming before the big chill set in were decimated by the cold and which ones bounced back. Snowdrops, witch hazel, heaths and hellebores look fine, but winter jasmine (Jasminium nudiflorum) flowers are mush. Maybe it'll put out more flowers and give a second show, I'll keep checking.

I have a unnamed H. vernalis and one struggling H. x intermedia 'Diane', and the H. virginiana grow wild and so there are zillions of them. As far as color here, the H. virigniana is a beautiful clear yellow, and the best ones bloom after the leaves have fallen with relatively large yellow flowers, but no perceptible scent to me. The winter silhouette is quite nice. I really like them. My H. x intermedia (struggling since we are at or perhaps past its northern limit) has a consistently gorgeous orange/yellow/red mix of foliage color and deep red-orange spring flowers that stand out against the remaining snow. Color is a bit too blue in this photo. H. x intermedia 'Diane' From garden photos 07 If H. intermedia were hardier or my area warmer, I would plant many of these, and I may plant more, hoping to find some that are a bit hardier. Fall color may depend on the soil (mine is acid fine sandy loam) or some other factor, IDK. Here's a yellow H. x intermedia (not mine, but at the airport 35 miles south of me - different microclimate) pruned to tree form. From witch hazels My H. vernalis is the least attractive of the bunch. From garden photos 07 Flowers are tiny (to compare this photo with 'Diane' above, realize that the base holding the petals is almost twice as large for 'Diane' as for the vernal witch hazel) and pale reddish orange from a distance, though en mass they do show against the evergreens behind them. I haven't found the scent particularly attractive, sort of like cheap soap. It also tends to keep almost half its leaves, though I may try to remove some of them once they are thoroughly dry this winter. No appreciable fall color. Even though I live on an old farm and actively garden on a couple of acres, I wouldn't waste the space or money on another of these. Perhaps some named varieties would be better or you will have better luck with your seedlings than I. Blooming H. vernalis (yes it needs pruning) From witch hazels H. vernalis fall color From witch hazels So my order of preference is H. x intermedia (assuming finding one hardy enough to grow well here) H. virginiana H. vernalis YMMV This post was edited by nhbabs on Sun, Dec 7, 14 at 11:01

I have two witch hazels, both are 'Arnold's Promise'. None do what your 'Diane' is doing. They bloom evenly on the entire shrub and drop their old leaves to the ground. I've seen what you described on shrubs for sale in garden centers and once asked a person working there what's with those old leaves stuck to the plant and obscuring flowers. I was told it is something happening to drought stressed plants, especially in late Summer. I don't know the source of this information but I did in fact water my witch hazels a lot during Summer and did not experience the problems you have with your shrub. Pick those old leaves and try to keep your plant moist during Summer and see if it makes any difference next Spring.