Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel 'Arnold Promise' (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise') flowers in the middle of winter, on bare wood, when the rest of the garden has stopped. Spidery yellow petals open along the branches and carry a sweet scent on still, cold mornings. It settles at about 3.5m tall and 3m wide, so it earns a place in a small garden as well as a large one.

Why you'll love it

• Winter flowers, and plenty of them. The blooms open on leafless stems in the coldest weeks, exactly when nothing else is worth looking at.
• The scent carries. Sweet and clean rather than heavy, strongest on a cold still morning, so plant it where you walk past.
• Autumn colour as well. The broad leaves turn butter yellow and orange before they drop, giving a second season of interest.
• A sensible size. At 3.5m by 3m it fits a courtyard corner or a mixed border without needing constant reduction.

Where it works best

Feature planting. Give it a position where the bare winter branches read against a wall or dark evergreens, within a few metres of a path so the fragrance is noticed.

Small gardens. The open, vase shaped habit lets you underplant with shade tolerant perennials and bulbs rather than losing the ground beneath it.

Pots and containers. A pot 500mm or wider works in a cool climate courtyard, though potted plants dry out fast and need watching every summer.

Growing Witch Hazel 'Arnold Promise' in Australia

Position and climate. This is a cool temperate plant and only a cool temperate plant. It needs a genuinely cold winter to flower well, so it suits the tablelands, the southern highlands, central Victoria and the Adelaide Hills. In subtropical and warm coastal gardens it survives but barely flowers. Give it full sun to light afternoon shade; it is frost hardy and wind tolerant once established.

Soil. Moist, well drained, humus rich and slightly acidic. It dislikes lime and it dislikes drying out, so dig compost through the bed and mulch 75mm deep, kept clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Water deeply once or twice a week through the first two summers and never let it wilt. A complete slow release fertiliser in early spring is enough for the year.

Pruning. Very little. Tidy crossing branches straight after flowering. Plants of this hybrid are usually grafted, so remove any shoots from below the graft union, since they will outgrow the named variety.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in one size, a 300mm pot, which gives you an established young plant rather than a whip. Because it is deciduous, a winter delivery arrives as bare stems, often with flower buds already set, while a summer delivery arrives in full leaf. Neither is a fault.

Growth is slow and steady, roughly 20cm to 30cm a year, so allow four to five years before it reads as a shrub of substance. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare options in the deciduous shrub range.
• See what else suits a cold garden in plants for cool climates.
• Read our guide to the most fragrant plants for Australian gardens.
• Browse more fragrant plants for a scented border.

Common questions

Will it flower in a warm climate?

Not reliably. The buds need weeks of genuine winter cold to set and open, so in Brisbane, Perth or coastal Sydney gardens you should expect foliage and little else.

When exactly does it flower?

Mid to late winter in most cool districts, holding for three to four weeks. The colder the site, the later and the longer the display.

Does it need another plant to flower?

No. It flowers on its own and needs no partner, which is why a single specimen works in a small courtyard.