First flowering shrubs of 2007...witch hazels!

Despite there being lots of snow still around, the witch hazels have finally opened in Newfoundland. The last two days have been about 50 F so the snow if finally melting! This is 'Ruby Glow'

This is 'Orange Beauty'

and 'Sandra'

Todd,

I'm surprised how much later St. John's is from us. Congratulations on reaching another witchhazel season. There's something very special about the combination of crystal cold winter air, a sunny day, and witchhazels in bloom. I'll link you to a couple of threads I've posted previously in case you want to see photos of other cultivars.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/687165/

Scott

The next.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/685514/

That's the disadvantage of being stuck out into the north Atlantic. Your trees will be leafing next month....mine won't leaf until late May! In reality, we do not have spring until late April...it will be then before the snow is melted and the spring crocus and snowdrops really peak.

I'm stuck even further out in the north Atlantic . . . some similarities, some differences . . . The snowdrops finished a couple of weeks ago, and the crocuses are past their best. A few trees leaf out in early April, most leaf out in late April or early May, but some won't be in leaf until late May or even early June. Spring is really protracted, with the cold-tolerant species much earlier, while the heat-demanding species just sit and wait, and wait, and wait.

Resin

Ah Resin, but you get the Gulf Stream...we get the cold Labrador Current, hence while we are further south than you, we only get cold ocean waters which keep our spring temps very low (the many icebergs don't help eiother!)

over here (we at work) have also been enjoying the witch hazels ??

also this one.

Weird that they're flowering at the same time in the N and S hemispheres!

Can't be many plants that do that.

Resin

There are fall-blooming witch hazels....I expect those are the types blooming in NZ at the moment.

Actually even here the witchhazels are now only fully open. We are 200 miles N of Scott, 1/2 zone colder, but oh what a difference that 200 miles makes. I had a few witchhazels in bloom in the mild January weather. Then we had the long cold snap (7-8 weeks) with warmer spring like weather just starting last week.

The problem I have here is with the deer and the witchhazels. In my garden, deer selectively browse witchhazels, both floral and vegetative buds. I sprayed the plants with Deer Off back in January. Then for 7-8 weeks it was too cold to spray again. Nearly all the buds got eaten off almost all the plants. GRRRRRRRR. Very few other plants in the garden had any damage, except a few viburnums that also have relatively large, succulent buds. Rhodies and Kalmias which were sprayed went completely untouched.

My witch hazel is a spring-blooming Jelena grafted onto a fall blooming virginiana rootstock. Roughly half the tree blooms in fall and the other half in spring. :)

Weird is what we thought, they had already flowered in August, none of us are sure what they will do this spring.
The weather here, like everywhere has been so up and down, sun hat one day, woollen the next.
we will have to go looking, for autumn flowering witch hazels too flower in spring, or get a witch hazel like dfwdennis. !!


same hazel in August

It is certainly possible that dfwdennis and bootandall have grafted clones (one of the Hamamelis x intermedia types, maybe?), with either Hamamelis virginiana (common witch hazel, fall blooming) or Hamamelis vernalis (vernal or Ozark witch hazel, midwinter to spring blooming) as the understock. These understocks may have thrown a few stems amongst the original scion's branches.

If these are flowering at their usual times, then you will see these alternate season flowers from the branches of the understock which should be discernably different from the grafted plant's flowers. These "suckers" will likely be more vigorous growers than the original grafted plant, and usually end up consuming the graft.

Prune them out if you don't want them, or enjoy the additional season of bloom as long as it lasts.

Well you guys have had me anxiously waiting and now the waiting is over for my Arnolds promise flowering. Today in Montana.

Great display!

I have a vernal witch hazel that's been bloom for about 5 days. I also have a Diane which is still just buds.

I see Soferdig has an Arnold Promise (I'd love to know how long you've had it and how successful it's been,) and I'm wondering if any one else in zone 4b or 5a has any of the Hamamelis x intermedia varieties doing well. Also, I know from research done at U of Maine that H. 'Ruby Glow' is especially hardy. Does anyone know from personal experience or from others' research of other types that are more likely to successfully bloom in the colder end of their range? If it's one of the few I can grow, is 'Ruby Glow' worth growing given that I'm not short on space?

I have "Ruby Glow" and I can vouch for its hardiness. Here is a shot of a bloom entirely encased in ice. After the ice melted (five days later) the blooms marched on as if nothing had ever hit them. They last for a very long time. This year it was from early January until just a few weeks ago.

Some observations. The red witchhazels seem to me to be in general much earlier bloomers than the yellows. Some yellows may be just as early, but not many. It seems like almost every red witchhazel starts just as early as they can, and last for a long time. I think I've seen "Westerstede" and a few other yellows come out early too, but the vast majority like "Arnold Promise" and "Pallida" start later and maybe don't last as long.

Aesthetically, I'm a little disappointed in "RG." The flowers are a little on the small side and also a bit glum in color, so they never really "pop" in the landscape. Perhaps on a hill with sunlight behind it, it would have more presence, but often it is lost in the landscape. In general, this is a complaint I have about all the red flowered hazels, although "Diane," which I'll post a photo of in the next post, is definitely better.

Hope this helps.

Scott

Here is "Diane." "Diane" has a really nice V-shaped, or vase-shaped form, too. Almost formal-looking.

Scott

This message was edited Mar 26, 2007 7:49 PM

Here's one more red flowered cultivar I found while going through my files. It is called "Carmine Red." I took the picture at Dawes Arboretum. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the form (actually, I seem to recall it being a very young tree, but I'm not sure), and I don't know how available it is, but the color is good.

Scott

I placed my Arnolds Promise out in the new woodland area in October. It was as you see a 3yr old 4' tree. So we had -22 at least for 2 days this year. No wind (we are protected with trees and mountains) I of course mulched heavy on the roots and it did great. It started blooming 3 weeks ago and still is emerging from the photo I displayed. I suspect it will bloom at least 5 weeks. We have had mild temps. (15 to 45 F) over the last 4 weeks. Of course tonight it will snow but no big deal. Who knows when it drops to -25 for a week what will happen. That is rare here, even when real winter arrives.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, MN (about 30 miles SW of downtown Minneapolis) has had an Arnold Promise for 25+ years. It usually blooms in the first January or February thaw. Often I have snowshoed out to see it in flower. Apparently, it doesn't have a prolonged cold requirement, as several yuears ago it bloomed in December after an early deep cold spell. In the 20 years I have known about it, it has only flower killed once that I know of. Of course, never any foliar bud or branch winter kill. It grows in a rather dry area at the south edge of a young woods. It did flower nicely after the most recent (but still years ago) very cold winter when the Arb recorded -36F. But there is cold drainage where it is located. And the year its flower buds died was warmer than that.

I found flowers just starting to unfold today on my Diane, a deep red so far. Thanks to all of you for your input. If Arnold Promise can survive -36, it won't have any problem with my measley -22, which is the coldest we've found in the 10 years we've been in this house. Several nurseries list the H. x intermedia varieties as 5b, and I was afraid that I'd not get flowers most years. I only got the Diane because it was on sale at the end of last season and was the only H. x intermedia I'd ever seen in the area at all. I just couldn't resist such a big, well-budded plant.

Forgot to say also that our MN Arb has a plant each of Jelena, Diane and mollis. They grow in a very moist area, but very exposed and in full sun too. They put on only about 6 inches or so of new growth each year, and most years flower buds do survive, but often don't develop as they should due to the cold (I assume).