There is nothing more heartening in February than the unfurling of a witch hazel's spidery flowers. Buds form in the fall and are ready to bloom by November, but need a warm spell to tease them open. No bigger than peppercorns, each contains four thin, ribbonlike petals. Bring a few twigs into the house anytime from November on, and the flowers will soon open.
Witch hazels are hardy shrubs native to the eastern United States, Japan, and China.
There are six species, and they all bloom at improbable times of year, from late fall to early spring. The nineteenth-century American essayist and naturalist John Burroughs was stunned to find common witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, in full bloom on October 21, 1875. It is a kind of birth in death, of spring in fall, that impresses one as a little uncanny. All rights reserved.