Tree Categories: Fall Color Trees, Flowering Trees, and Ornamental Trees
Mature Tree Height: Less than 20 feet tall | Mature Tree Width: 10-20 feet wide
Tree Growing Zones: Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, and Zone 8
The Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a small-sized ornamental flowering tree. It has very beautiful flowers that bloom in the fall. They are yellow and sweet-scented and appear close to the stem and have four stringy, twisty, crooked petals. They bloom in the fall and stay on into the winter, usually coming on after the leaves have dropped but sometimes overlap with the fall foliage. The foliage itself is broadly oval-shaped and emerge as light green, maturing to dark green for the summer then turning a dazzling yellow in the fall. It has an irregular, open, and broad crown made up of large crooked branches.
The Witch Hazel is native eastern North America from Canada to Mexico. It is found in the wild along woodland margins and stream banks. It does not tolerate drought very well, but it does stand heavy clay soil, erosion, and deer damage. This tree is a great choice in a garden or along a woodland margin for as a fall and winter specimen, although it can hold its own among others’ summer foliage. It can grow in full to partial sun but flowering looks best in full sun. Moist soil, well-draining soil is preferable.
