Plant of the Month
Desirable plants for a year-round garden and suggestions for a pretty planting scheme
Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’
Witch hazels are one of winter’s most distinctive shrubs, their quirky, spidery blooms making them instantly recognisable even before you’ve breathed in their inimitable scent. At their peak, these are shrubs that make a lasting impression. Fiona Edmond is a garden designer and owner of Green Island Gardens in Essex, and she also holds a National Plant Collection of Hamamelis. Growing so many witch hazels side by side, she’s finely attuned to their di erences. According to Fiona, the scent varies according to flower colour. “Yellow ones are more citrusy and as you go through the oranges to the reds, they become more spicy and cinnamony,” she says.
The Chinese species Hamamelis mollis is considered by many to be the finest of all the witch hazels. The cultivar ‘Pallida’ has especially lovely pale lemon flowers and a delicious scent. In autumn, its large, hazel-like leaves echo the blooms by turning butter-yellow before falling. It will fill a winter garden with its sweet, spicy fragrance and, best of all, it blooms relatively early compared to its brethren. “Mine sometimes flower before the leaves have fallen o in autumn,” says Fiona. “I’ve had them blooming in October and still going at the end of February.”
If you have room, extend the season – and the pleasure – by growing the slightly later-flowering yellow cultivar H.x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ alongside it. Give witch hazels enough space to develop their beautiful vase shape without it being impinged by bulkier shrubs. Underplanting with spring bulbs and woodlanders that won’t get in the way or spoil the e ect of the witch hazel’s graceful branches will best make the most of them.