Wildflower Wednesday~A Thanksgiving Week Long Celebration

Hamamelis virginiana

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and the Thanksgiving week long celebration of wildflowers.

All across America families and friends are making plans to gather for Thanksgiving dinner. It's our annual celebration of the "First Thanksgiving" when colonists celebrated arriving safely in the New World. In my house, before the feasting begins, we all take turns sharing our feelings of gratitude. This year, I am especially grateful for the health and well being of my family; for loving and supportive friends; for rain that finally fell in Middle Tennessee; and, for wildflowers that bloomed no matter how horrid the weather has been.

Please join me any time this week to share and celebrate the wonderful wildflowers that live and thrive in your gardens. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not. Please leave a comment and add your name to Mr Linky so others can pop over to see your Wildflower Wednesday post.

unfurled crepe papery petals on a very warm November afternoon. 

Today, I celebrate Hamamelis virginiana,  a fall flowering understory tree/shrub with sweetly fragrant small yellow flowers.  Witch hazel, as it is also known, is native to woodlands, forest margins and stream banks in eastern North America (including  OK and TX)  where it's found growing in moist well drained soil in sunny to partial shade conditions.  It's an open,  multi stemmed tree with irregular branching that is known to form colonies. 

I love the  textured deep green leaves that turn a golden yellow in the fall.  Sometimes the flowers bloom before the leaves drop and the stem-hugging clusters of bright yellow flowers are hidden.

Pollinator visiting the last blooms of the year

But, that gives me an opportunity to get a close look at each flower and at any pollinators who happen to stop by for a bit of nectar.  Hamamelis is also known to attract the robin, junco, titmouse and cardinal.  I love having a tree with pretty flowers, a sweet scent and that has good wildlife value.

stem-hugging clusters of bright yellow flowers, each with four crinkly, ribbon-shaped petals

Except for a few native ex-aster that might have survived the recent killing frost, witch hazel is probably the last blooming plant found in most woodlands.  I treasure it for providing one last stop for nectar gathering pollinators; its colorful fall show; the sweet blooms; its gentle fragrance; clay soil tolerance; and, that it seems deer proof!  It's a wonderful specimen plant, but, suckers must be removed or it will form a colony.  Because it colonizes, it does make a wonderful screening plant or hedge. Spring ephemerals, native sedges, ferns and shade tolerant perennials are great companions.

fruit and exploded seed capsule

Ooh, ooh, ooh~One more cool factoid!  The seeds are expelled with a loud pop that sends them yards away from the parent plant.  I've been looking for offspring but, so far none.  The seeds must be tasty to  my garden critters.

gailxxoo



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone."