Hamamelis (Witch Hazel)
After a fairly long visit with Cathy’s mom today, we went to the Agricultural Farm Park. Gardens in winter are not always great destinations but if you know where to look you can sometimes find something worth seeing. I’m a big fan of witch hazel, including any of the five Hamamelis species, as well as the hybrid Hamamelis × intermedia, a cross between H. japonica and H. mollis. H. virginiana blooms in the fall while the others all bloom in the late winter and early spring, which is particularly nice. The flowers aren’t large but they are often very abundant and their colors range from yellow, through orange to a rusty red. This one, growing in the park’s demonstration garden, doesn’t lose its leaves in the fall, which turn brown but hang on until spring, so the flowers are even less conspicuous.