Wildflower Wednesday: A Winter Blooming Treasure-Hamamelis vernalis

 I am not shy about sharing photos of my blooming Ozark witch hazel. Nor do I shy away from making it a Wildflower Wednesday star every few years. It it deserves the attention. I wish more people grew this beauty instead of the non-native hybrids that most nurseries sell; especially when you consider that it's a host plant to 69 moths and butterflies. 

You'll love its sweet fragrance wafting toward you on a warm winter day (in the 50s). You'll delight in the yellow/orange crepe paper streaming petals that unfurl as the day warms and furl back up when the temperature drops. Walking by this plant in full bloom is a treat with the cool flowers, the wonderful scent and visiting pollinators.

 Hamamelis vernalis is a lovely native shrub/small tree that blooms when you have just about given up hope that winter will end and warmth will return to the world. In my Middle Tennessee garden it often begins blooming in mid January and it's not unusual for it to continue blooming all through February and often into March. 

Petals furled and unfurled

Ozark witch hazel's flowers are an unusual reddish color with four yellow/orange crepe paper streaming petals that unfurl as the day warms and furl back up when the temperature drops. This is a marvelous adaptive behavior that insures that the spidery blooms will survive the fluctuating winter weather and be in bloom for several months.  

We've had some wicked cold weather and just as expected the petal furled in the freezing temps and and unfurled with the warm temps. You've got to love that in a winter blooming plant.

They're spectacular in my mostly brown winter garden. It's planted in the native Hydrangea bed under two oak trees so that anyone using the front path to the porch can get a close up view of the flowers and smell their delicious scent. Planted at its base are Carex, Trilliums, Green and Gold groundcover and self planted Phacelia. It's a lovely spring sight.

Ozark witch hazel is more of a multi-trunked shrub than a tree which makes it perfect for planting near you patio or anywhere where you can get a close up view of the flowers and a good sniff of its fragrance. Btw, the fragrance is honey sweet. 

It's known to sucker so it would make a fine hedge. I've not experienced the suckering but, the soil at Clay and Limestone is not moist year round. I do give this plant a big gulp of water during any summer droughts.

Just before they burst open

It's no accident that most winter blooming plants have some fragrance. Nature had to insure that insect pollinators could easily find their way to a plant that blooms when most of the garden is fast asleep. On days where the temperatures are above 50˚ I've seen honeybees,  small gnats and flies visiting these beautiful fragrant flowers!

Clues that Witch hazels are insect pollinated:

• the long, bright-yellow strap like petals are conspicuous visual cues
  
• sweet smelling nectar that attracts owlet moths (known pollinator)
  
• the closer an insect get the stronger the scent...Humans love that, too.
  
• their stamens (pollen-bearing male bits) are right next to the nectar source
• there's not much competition blooming mid winter so any pollinators out will find it
  
• its long bloom time means the pollen remains receptive to pollinators for a long time
  

Yes, researchers have been curious about winter pollination. Bernd Heinrich discovered that winter moths are responsible for pollinating witch hazels. These owlet moths (Noctuidae) have a remarkable ability to heat themselves by using energy to shiver, raising their body temperatures by as much as 50 degrees in order to fly in search of food.  (source).  Also, any fungus gnats, parasitic wasps, and hoverflies that are out will visit the flowers.

Nature and its critters are amazing!

 If you want to grow this Central South/Southern native shrub just give it a partially shady location with good morning sun, moist acid soil and decent drainage. Be sure to give it some space; during its early years, it grows taller than wide, but mature specimens are usually wider than tall. It tolerates Clay and Limestone's more neutral soil, so, I am pretty sure you can have success with it, too.

 

 The Particulars

Hamamelis vernalis
Common Name: Ozark witch hazel

Family: Hamamelidaceae

 
Type: Deciduous shrub or small tree

Native Range: Southern and central United States in rocky stream banks, in moist open woodlands.

Zone: 4 to 8

Height: 6.00 to 10.00 feet
Spread: 8.00 to 15.00 feet

Bloom Time: January to April
Bloom Description: Yellow with red inner calyx

Sun: Full sun to part shade

Water: Medium, consistently moist. NOT drought tolerant

Maintenance: Low, does not need to be pruned but you might need to remove suckers.
 

Suggested Use: Rain Garden, along creek banks, near a walkway to catch the scent.
 

Flower: Showy, Fragrant

 

fruits

Fruits September–October; a hard, woody, elliptical capsule ½ inch long, splitting down a 2-parted tip/ending in 4 sharp, curved points. Capsule pops open, forcibly discharging seeds to a distance of up to 30 feet. Seeds large, hard, black, 1 or 2 per capsule. (source)

Leaf: Good Fall color-yellow gold 

Usage: Please plant them where you will be sure to appreciate them during the winter months. They can colonize and would make an effective screen along property boundary.  Use in mixed border or as a specimen.

Wildlife value: Habitat value for insects and for birds that come to nest in their branches. The seeds and flowers are eaten by turkey and ruffed grouse. Host plant to 69 moths and butterflies. Owlet moths are known winter pollinators.

Comments: An important medicinal plant for many native American tribes. Twigs, leaves and bark are the basis of witch hazel extract. In the Ozarks and elsewhere, forked switches of this plant and its close relatives have long been used by "witch wigglers" or "water witches" (water finders) to find the best places to dig wells. (source) It has great fall leaf color, attracts pollinators, and blooms for two months.

 
Tolerates: Deer, Erosion, Clay Soil 

 

It's happy in the garden, it gets pollinated by visiting critters and that makes me happy.

Long time readers know I have garden guidelines that I strive to follow. My goal is to plant a mixture of Central Basin natives that have good to excellent wildlife value and that provide bloom as close to year round as is possible in a middle south garden. I've planted a few perennials and shrubs that are native to adjacent states or that grow in conditions similar to my habitat. Hammaelis vernalis is found growing in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri. I planted them ( I have several) for the earliest visiting pollinators, for its beautiful flowers, delightful perfume and as a memory tree for my mom. 

When asked what tree I would like as a memorial gift for my mother I told my friends that Hamamelis vernalis was the perfect tree because it bloomed in winter. My mom bloomed in the winter of her life and I thought she would love having a tree that's as unique as she was. To read a post about it go here. 

A friend made this sign that reads "for bernice xoxo"

 I love that not only does Hamamelis vernalis flower for months, it has a lovely fragrance. How clever of Mother Nature to give winter bloomers that something special to insure that moths, a little fly, gnat or bee will follow the scent and pollinate the flower.
xoxogail 

 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. On the fourth Wednesday of each month I share information about wildflowers and other native plants. Please join in if you like. You can write a blog post or share your favorite wildflower on social media. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.