Plus garden to do's for February
By L.A. JacksonLooking for some botanical magic to break winter’s icy spell in the garden? Consider witches—late-blooming witch hazels, that is. In particular, variants of the Chinese witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis) and the Japanese witch hazel (H. japonica). The Chinese version is a beautiful, spreading, small tree (15 to 18 feet tall) that sends away the waning winter in February and March with its pleasingly fragrant, yellow ribbons of flowers. The blooms of the Japanese form have more twists and curls, and can range in color from yellow to a rusty red. As a bonus, Japanese witch hazel exhibits exceptional autumn foliage color.
Hybridizers have been busy combining the best traits from Chinese and Japanese witch hazels, and the results have been many outstanding cultivars technically designated as Hamamelis x intermedia introductions. ‘Arnold Promise’, is a good example. This 20-foot-tall tree exhibits glorious orange-red autumn color, which is followed late in the winter with the fluttering of yellow, 1- to 1½-inch long, fragrant, ribbon-like blooms into the crisp, chilled air.
‘Jelena’ and ‘Diane’ are two other H. x intermedia cultivars that can also warm the wintry air with their blossom displays. ‘Jelena’ has copper-colored fall foliage, and this hue is echoed deep in the winter with its hardy, sweet-scented flowers. The color of ‘Diane’ is even more intense with its autumn leaves turning a sunset red, and this is followed a few months later with a late winter show of long, stringy, copper-red, fragrant blooms.
Another H. x intermedia winner that can bring multi-seasonal intensity to the garden is ‘Ruby Glow’, a small tree (20 feet tall) that grows more upright than most witch hazels, and it does literally glow. In autumn, yellow, purple and red leaves smolder until leaf fall, but by February, the embers are rekindled in the form of small, bronze-red ribbons for flowers that defy the chilled air with their heady, sweet scents.
Other fragrant plants for your garden
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