Magical witch hazels

Witch hazels are unique shrubs that bring shape, colour and fragrance to your winter garden, says Louise Curley, and don’t forget they have fantastic autumn foliage, too

- Louise Curley

PLANTS that flower in winter when others are dormant are rightly prized for their ability to raise our spirits, providing pops of colour and sometimes wafts of delicious scent when we need them the most. One of these plants, the witch hazel, has become a go-to plant for adding winter interest, and it’s particularly useful for smaller gardens that can’t accommodate the height and spread of trees such as silver birch and the Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula), which are both grown for their striking winter bark.

Range of colourful blooms

Witch hazels are a small group of deciduous shrubs native to North America, China and Japan, where they thrive in woods and on riverbanks. The ‘witch’ part of the name is believed to derive from the Old English word ‘wice’, which meant pliable and refers to the bendy nature of the branches. The Chinese witch hazel, Hamamelis mollis, was discovered in 1878 by the plant hunter Charles Maries on an expedition to China sponsored by James Veitch’s plant nursery. The qualities of the plant, however, weren’t immediately appreciated, and it was the hybridising of the Chinese and the Japanese witch hazels that produced more floriferous plants with a range of colourful blooms that made these popular garden shrubs.