which witch hazel?

12 years ago

I bought this Witch Hazel a couple of years ago at a neighborhood plant sale and there was no ID. A few days ago it bloomed for the first time! So now I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is. I don't even know if it's a Hamamelis x intermedia or Hamamelis mollis or which of the yellow flowered cultivars it is. I first posted on "Name that Plant," but haven't gotten any responses yet. So I thought I'd try here. Any help would be appreciated!

Comments (7)

whaas_5a
12 years ago
Looks like it could be Hamamelis vernalis. They bloom about this time ecspecially in your zone.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
the botanists who hang in the 'name that plant' forum might be worth trying ...

ken
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bogturtle
12 years ago
The most widely available yellow Witch-hazel, that might be opening now is H. 'Arnold Promise', but I am also in zone 7 and mine opens quite late. Right now H.'Robert' and 'Diane'are opening, but they are quite red.
I found photos, one after another,of cultivars on one site on the web., most developed by a Dutch family, that seems to be naming their new sorts after family members. I did not save the site, after a while. I will tell the site, if I can find it again.
whaas_5a
12 years ago
Hamamelis vernalis is the earliest blooming. The others mentioned typically bloom Feb or March. It would be odd to see these blooming now unless you've had a stretch of warm weather.
toad_ca
Original Author
12 years ago
Far from warm here! We've been snowed in for a few days (slippery hill and too much snow/ice).
Well, after much searching and comparing, I've narrowed the field down to two possibilities (at least at this point):
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Allgold' and Hamamelis x intermedia 'Sunburst'
I based my conclusions on the fact that my blossoms don't seem to have any fragrance and they bloomed just before the beginning of January (as well as the red centers).
Virginiana is more of an autumn bloomer and most of the other yellow cultivars--including vernalis and 'Arnold Promise' have a fragrance.
Thank you all for your suggestions and still open to other (wiser) thoughts.
whaas_5a
12 years ago
Can you explain the fall color?

H. vernalis blooms the earliest in the Hamamelis genus.
gusolie
12 years ago
I'm not convinced that your plant is 'Arnold Promise', or even or 'Sunburst' as you've seemingly already narrowed down to. That's certainly not 'Arnold Promise', and the ribbony flowers are too thin and fleeting to be 'Sunburst'.

The extremely fuzziness of the flower stem/peduncles makes me think H. mollis, but that species is extremely fragrant...

Your idea of it being 'Allgold' could be quite good! Narrow petals that twist, etc. and it certainly is a very early blooming H. x intermedia.

Do you have the book (or access to) "Witch Hazels" by Chris Lane? It could prove tremendously helpful. The only dilemma is that among yellow-flowering witch hazels, a key ID feature is measuring the length and width of flower petals...and that's something that's in the millimeters. Tedious...