Witchhazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Strap-like yellow flowers on bare stems from October into December, the year's last woody bloom, with a clean fragrance that drifts on cold air.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The only plant in our catalog that flowers in November and December, filling the garden with fragrant yellow blooms when everything else has gone dormant.
Virginia witchhazel blooms when nothing else does. The strap-like yellow petals emerge on bare stems in October through December, some years right alongside the leaves still dropping, and the faint, clean fragrance drifts on cold air in a way that's genuinely surprising the first time you encounter it. It's the last woody plant of the year to flower in our region, and often the first to show color in the next year's cycle. As a large multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, it forms a graceful vase shape with handsome wavy-edged leaves that turn bright yellow in fall before the flowers even appear. The fall foliage and winter flowers overlap on the same plant for a brief, spectacular week. A truly singular plant for the native garden.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown witchhazel propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 8–15 ft · 8–15 ft wide
- Bloom time
- Fall through early winter
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Hamamelidaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America
Care notes for witchhazel.
Full sun to full shade in average to moist soil. Tolerates clay and part shade better than most. Little pruning needed. remove crossing branches and dead wood in late winter. Do not prune in fall or you'll remove the flower buds. Slow-growing but long-lived.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside witchhazel.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.