Dwarf Witch Alder

Fothergilla gardenii

Also called dwarf fothergilla, coastal witch alder, coastal fothergilla, Fothergilla carolina.

A small shrub of coastal plain bogs with honey-scented white bottlebrush flowers before the leaves in spring, and red, orange and yellow fall color.

Showy flowersFall colorRareTolerates wet soil

Type: Shrub
Mature height: 2–3 ft
USDA zones: 5–8
Growth rate: Slow
Sun: Full, Part
Soil moisture: Average, Wet
Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, the coast, swamps and wet flats
Native range: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina Also recorded in 2 other states, outside its native range. See what is native in your state

Hardiness zones Find your zone by ZIP code

Dwarf witch alder is the small cousin of the mountain witch alder we grow. Its stature, leaves and flower spikes are all smaller. Alexander Garden of Charleston first found it, and it was grown in England by 1765. NatureServe ranks it vulnerable, and Georgia lists it as endangered. Florida lists it too, though its Florida plants are now called Miller's witch alder. Group it along a foundation or at the front of a border, where the spring flowers and the fall color can be seen up close.

Size, growth and what to expect

Dwarf witch alder grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a mounded shrub 2 to 3 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide. Some plants reach about 6 feet.

In April and May, before the leaves, spikes 1 to 2 inches long open at the branch tips. The flowers have no petals, only white stamens with yellow anthers, and they smell of honey. Bees visit them. The leaves turn yellow, orange and red in fall. The small capsules split in September and October to fling their seeds.

It grows wild only on the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Carolinas and Georgia, in pocosins, wet savannas and their edges. The plants of Alabama and Florida once counted as this species were named as two other species in 2020. It is adapted to fire, and stands on recently burned ground are the most robust.

How to grow Dwarf Witch Alder

Dwarf witch alder flowers and colors best in full sun, and it takes part shade. Without weekly water in a hot summer, it does better with shade in the late afternoon. It wants a moist, acid soil rich in organic matter, such as a sandy or peaty loam. It takes wet ground, but avoid very dry sites and limy soil, where the leaves turn yellow. Plant it 2 feet from a wall and set plants 3 feet apart. Its size lets it go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and spread a mulch of leaves over the shallow roots, clear of the stems. The seed is difficult to germinate, and it may take 9 to 15 months to come up. Seed needs at least six months of warm, damp conditions and then three months of cold. Sow it outdoors in fall, and expect seedlings the second spring.

Water weekly through the first two summers and in dry spells after that, since plants suffer in a long drought, above all in full sun. Deer seldom damage it. Prune only if needed, right after it blooms, since clipping cuts down the flowers. It spreads by suckers into a colony, so pull any that stray.

Its flowers carry both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. No serious insect or disease troubles it as a rule. A leaf spot fungus, found on dwarf witch alders in South Carolina in 2019, can strip plants in hot, full sun by late summer. Drip irrigation lessens it.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

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