Flowers
Common Name: Ozark witch hazel
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 6.00 to 10.00 feet
Spread: 8.00 to 12.00 feet
Bloom Time: January to March
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Leaf: Good Fall
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Erosion, Clay Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best flowering is in full sun. Prefers moist, acidic, organically rich soils. Consistent moisture is best (leaf scorch may occur during periods of summer drought). Shrubs have some tolerance for clay soils as long as drainage is good. Promptly remove root suckers to prevent colonial spread. It is particularly important to remove root suckers rising from below a graft union. Prune in spring after flowering to control shape and size.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Hamamelis vernalis, commonly called Ozark witch hazel, is native to the Ozark Plateau extending from southern Missouri through northwestern Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma. In Missouri, it is typically found in gravelly stream beds, bases of rocky slopes along streams and less frequently in rocky wooded hillsides where it spreads by suckers to form large colonies (Steyermark). It typically grows to 6' tall. Flowers in axillary clusters appear in mid to late winter (January-March in St. Louis) prior to the emergence of the foliage in a variety of colors ranging from pale yellow to dark reddish purple. Each flower has four, narrow, ribbon-like, curled and crinkled petals (each to only 1/3" long) that are usually red at the base transitioning to copper orange at the tip. Calyx cup is dull red. Ovate-rounded leaves (to 3” long) emerge light green with reddish-bronze tints in spring, but quickly mature to medium to dark green. Golden yellow fall color. Fruit is a non-showy dehiscent capsule which splits open in September-October to release its seeds.
Genus name comes from the Greek words hama meaning at same time and melon meaning apple or fruit in reference to the occurrence of both fruit and flowers at the same time on this shrub (particularly in the case of fall flowering members of the genus).
Specific epithet from Latin means spring in reference to the flower bloom.
'Sandra' is reported to be an improved version of the species that is supposed to produce (a) slightly larger flowers, (b) purplish new growth and (c) quality reddish-orange fall color. The experience at the Kemper Center has been that 'Sandra' is not a particularly showy cultivar and that the aforementioned improvements were barely if at all observable on plants grown there.
Problems
Caterpillars and Japanese beetles may chew on the leaves. Watch for gall aphids, scale, leafroller and leafminer. Potential diseases include powdery mildew, occasional leaf spots and rots. Insect and disease issues are typically not serious and rarely warrant chemical control.
Uses
Superior winter-flowering shrub for the landscape. Shrub borders, woodland gardens. Screen or tall hedge. Good specimen.