Last year I was struck by the welcome sight of the Witch Hazel in early February.  It was alight with yellow petals at a time when most things were still sleeping off the winter chill.  However, our Boston children had already sent down a picture of Witch Hazel ‘Jelena’ with gorgeous red straps in early January so I was inspired to order a related variety, ‘Diane’.  The first one that arrived was on death’s door so I asked for a replacement.  And even that one was in a soft pot with a lot of loose soil.  So it has resided in a pot with little disturbance since last spring.  Now I notice that it is indeed already opening up with bright red straps.

Witch Hazel 'Diane' (Hamamelis x intermedia)

We need to find a home for this little tree this spring.

We’ve just had a week or so of somewhat warmer weather.  Yesterday was 50 degrees again.  And things are starting to pop up.  But this Witch Hazel is definitely ahead of it’s Chinese counterpart which is only just starting to show color.

Chines Witch Hazel (Hamamelis mollis)

It rained heavily over the weekend which helped the ground thaw out and got rid of a lot of the remaining snow.  I was very pleased to see that when the snow melted next the porch the little Hepatica that we got from Asiatica last year (Single Purple) was looking very happy and even starting to put out some buds.

Hepatica single purple from Asiatica