Welcome to the

Pith   Vigor

blog

+

the Book

buy

CONNECT:

Hey There! I’m Rochelle Greayer. I’m a garden designer on TV and IRL. I’m also an author and entrepreneur who thinks she can save the world by teaching everyone a little something about landscape design.

rochelle

meet

REgister now!

A Free Master Class

THE 7-STEP SYSTEM TO DESIGN A

Gorge-
ous
Garden

STOP WASTING MONEY ON ALL THE WRONG PLANTS  

Join the Course Today!

Mix & match plants like a pro!

50 Natives: Oklahoma – Hamamelis virginiana – Witch Hazel

Filed In:

I first fell in love with witch hazel when I was in design school.  Constantly walking the paths of Kew Gardens trying to take images of useful garden plants, Witch Hazel was prominently featured in nearly all my classmates plant portfolios as it was reliably in bloom when nothing else was (i.e. very late fall and winter — when we were in school).

The north American native is predominantly yellow flowered, but there are many variety that feature all shades of yellows, oranges and reds, all of which give the garden spectacular winter interest.  The shaggy blooms put on around November and stay through to late spring …you can see then through the bright yellow fall foliage, but as soon as that falls away….you are left with sculptural twigs and funky flowers.

1. WITCH HAZEL, 2. hamamelis virginiana – witch hazel, 3. Witch Hazel leaves, 4. Hamamelis virginiana, 5. Witch Hazel on the Mall, 6. Hamamelis

Witch hazel has many historical association with witches and magic. It has been thought to protect one from witches. The medieval English word wych, meaning “flexible,” may have been correlated and applied to the characteristically flexible witch hazel branches.

Modern witches consider witch hazel a magical herb and utilize it in spells to guard against evil influences and to heal broken hearts. Dowsers or water witches use the forked branches of witch hazel to find subterranean water, lost items, or hidden treasures beneath the earth.

The Mohegans made balms out of the bark of witch hazel and used the leaves to make tea. The tea and balm were applied to cuts and wounds, and the tea was ingested to help treat menstrual problems, colds, and other ailments.  Often still used today, this pretty woodland garden shrub has good kitchen and medicinal uses.

image by jumu556

REgister now!

A Free Master Class

THE 7-STEP SYSTEM TO DESIGN A

Gorge-
ous
Garden

  1. Susan aka Miss R says:

    So funny, the coincidence. The first photos of Hamamellis sp. I have is from Kew in Feburary when I visited one year. Also proof that Dorothy was right…sometimes we need to travel far and wide to appreciate what we have right outside our own doorstep!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Does Your Garden Need a Makeover?


Learn my 7-step system to design and build a stunning garden anywhere in the world.


Understand The 5 mistakes EVERYONE makes when creating a garden.
(save yourself time, money, & headaches and get much better results!)


See How to work directly with me (but at a DIY price!) to
design and create YOUR own gorgeous garden. 

SIGN ME UP!

Join my Free Class!

join the FrEE 10-day garden Design challenge

Your Garden will look waaayyy better in less than 2 weeks - Promise!

in the weeds?

Sign me up