Looking to add a brilliant splash of color to your winter landscape? Look no further than witch hazel. This shrub features spellbinding winter color in shades of gold, orange, and red. Better yet, it blooms when other plants are done. Its spicy fragrance and spidery flowers in yellow, orange and reds make it a must for the winter landscape. In spring it erupts with a new robe of greenery, while in summer its thick, scalloped-shaped leaves form a dense screen of dark green. Witch Hazel is a rugged, early spring bloomer that provides much needed food for the pollinators. This hardy shrub can reach 30 feet high and 15 feet wide at maturity making them excellent as a screen, border or mixed hedge. It does best in sun or part shade and tolerates a wide range of growing conditions.
Witch hazel is probably best known for its medicinal and topical uses. In fact, it is one of the few plants approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a non-prescription ingredient. Witch hazel can be found in everything from facial toner, to acne lotion, to deodorant and bug spray. For centuries, Native Americans introduced it to early settlers for relief of swelling and irritation.
Witch hazel may not be magical, but it can bring life to your garden for many seasons to come.