# Dwarf Witch Alder (Fothergilla gardenii)

> 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.

Also called dwarf fothergilla, coastal witch alder, coastal fothergilla, Fothergilla carolina. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-witch-alder/

![Dwarf witch alder (Fothergilla gardenii) shrubs covered in white bottlebrush flower spikes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/dwarf-witch-alder-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Daderot, CC0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFothergilla_gardenii_-_Longwood_Gardens_-_DSC00877.JPG)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 2 to 3 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8
- 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
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Wet
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Showy flowers, Fall color, Rare, Tolerates wet soil
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

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

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

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.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Fothergilla gardenii](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/fothergilla-gardenii/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Fothergilla gardenii](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=281020)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Dwarf fothergilla](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/dwarf-fothergilla/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Fothergilla gardenii](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=FOGA)
- [University of Florida IFAS Extension, FPS-214: Fothergilla gardenii, Dwarf Fothergilla (Gilman)](https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP214)
- [Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC 1093, Joey Williamson: Fothergilla, updated 2024-08-15](https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/fothergilla/)
- [University of Georgia Extension, Bulletin 987: Native Plants for Georgia Part I](https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B987/native-plants-for-georgia-part-i-trees-shrubs-and-woody-vines/)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: dwarf fothergilla](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=507)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Fothergilla gardenii, from Bean](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/fothergilla/fothergilla-gardenii/)
- [Mt. Cuba Center: Dwarf Fothergilla](https://mtcubacenter.org/plants/dwarf-fothergilla/)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Fothergilla gardenii](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220005331)
- [Haynes, Phillips, Krings, Lynch and Ranney 2020, Revision of Fothergilla (Hamamelidaceae), including resurrection of F. parvifolia and a new species, F. milleri, PhytoKeys 144: 57-80](https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.144.49589)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Fothergilla gardenii](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1150275/Fothergilla_gardenii)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal, Georgia DNR: All Rare Plants table, export 2026-07-07](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/table/plants)
- [Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Regulated Plant Index, Rule 5B-40.0055, F.A.C., as amended 2020-01-08](http://flrules.elaws.us/fac/5b-40.0055)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Fothergilla gardenii, FOGA](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/FOGA)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Dwarf Witch Alder, add ?species=dwarf-witch-alder with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=dwarf-witch-alder&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Dwarf Witch Alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=dwarf-witch-alder): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=dwarf-witch-alder
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Dwarf Witch Alder is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=dwarf-witch-alder
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Dwarf Witch Alder needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=dwarf-witch-alder:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Dwarf Witch Alder flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.