American witch hazel
Hamamelis virginiana L.
Also called common witch hazel.
Large native shrub or small multi-stemmed tree with spidery, lightly fragrant yellow flowers in October and November, often as the gold fall leaves drop. Grows in sun or the shade of a woodland edge.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 4.5–6 m (15–20 ft) tall and 4.5–6 m (15–20 ft) wide; medium growth, about 6 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #3 install size.
Bloom
Yellow flowers, Oct–Dec (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American witch hazel : Oct–Dec |
Design notes
- Not the late-winter hybrid witch hazels (Hamamelis × intermedia), which bloom in February–March.
- Remove root suckers to keep a tree form, or let it thicket as an informal screen.
- Flowers best with a few hours of direct sun.
Regions
Native range: Eastern North America, from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Texas and Minnesota.
Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:
Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.
In the guides
American witch hazel comes up in this guide:
Related plants
Try American witch hazel in a plan
Opens your own copy of a finished sample garden in the planner with American witch hazel ready to place; the planner checks it against that garden’s zone, light and moisture.
Plan with American witch hazel
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.