Witch Hazel bears seed pods and flowers at the same time.
 Just as branches lose their hold and let leaves fall, our native Witch Hazel begins to bloom. At first, the small clusters of fragrant golden flowers are hard to see among all the yellow foliage, but then suddenly the branches of this understory bush are bare, and the flowers pop into view. The tiny, elongated crinkly crepe-paper petals grouped along the branches are a surprise in late fall and early winter, even when you expect to see them year after year.  I found one blooming just this week in plantsman John Mickler’s yard. (www.michlers.com)  Look around, and you may discover one, too. Or better yet, plant one in your own garden.
Witch hazels are a forest-edge kind of plant, enjoying a bit of cover, and also a good supply of water.  The fruits take a year to develop seeds, so that there are actually flowers and seed pods on the tree at the same time. The pods then burst open in fall, forcibly shooting seeds out of the capsules to distribute them.  Cross-breeding with other Witch Hazels from China and Japan has produced an array of interesting landscape shrubs with a range of bloom colors, but which appear in late winter.Â
Named for their leaves’ resemblance to those of hazel trees, and their pliant, “s-witch” like branches, witch hazels have been used for dousing rods, as well as a naturally astringent lotion ingredient in products ranging from hemorrhoidal preparations to face creams like Pond’s, which began using the extract in the mid-1800s.
