# Ozark Witch Hazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

> Fragrant red, orange or yellow flowers on bare branches from January into March, the first bloom of the year, on a shrub that takes floods.

Also called vernal witch hazel, spring witch hazel, winterbloom. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ozark-witch-hazel/

![Ozark witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) red-centered orange flowers on a bare winter branch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/ozark-witch-hazel-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Plant Image Library, CC BY-SA 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHamamelis_vernalis_%28Ozark_Witch-hazel%29_%2832384398372%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 6 to 10 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: Stream banks and rocky ground
- Native range: Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Wet
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Showy flowers, Tolerates wet soil, Fall color, Wildlife value, Winter interest
- 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

Ozark witch hazel is the late-winter cousin of the common witch hazel, a suckering shrub of the Ozarks. It flowers in winter rather than fall, with shorter petals, often red or orange, and a far stronger scent. It keeps its dry leaves through much of the winter, and it spreads by runners into colonies. Plant it beside a path or a window you pass in January, where a sunny day opens the flowers and you can catch the scent.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Ozark witch hazel grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a rounded, many-stemmed shrub 6 to 10 feet tall and 8 to 15 feet wide. A young seedling planted in autumn first flowered about 4 years later.

The flowers open on bare branches from January into March, each with four crinkled, ribbon-like petals about a third of an inch long around a red cup. On very cold days the petals roll up, and the bloom lasts three to four weeks. The leaves turn golden yellow in fall. The woody capsules split in September and October and can throw their black seeds up to 30 feet, and turkey and grouse eat them.

It grows wild on the Ozark Plateau of southern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, with a few records in Texas. Its home is gravel bars and rocky stream banks that flood often, and rarely wooded hillsides.

## How to grow Ozark Witch Hazel

Ozark witch hazel flowers best in full sun and grows well in part shade. It likes a moist, rich, acid soil, and it takes clay where the ground drains. It takes flooding well, and it stands a higher soil pH than common witch hazel. Plant it 8 feet from a wall and set plants 8 feet apart for a screen. 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 keep the mulch ring clear of the stems. Sow fresh seed outdoors in early October, a quarter inch deep, and mulch the bed. The warm fall soil and then the winter cold break its dormancy, and seedlings come up in spring. For spring sowing, hold the seed damp in the refrigerator for three months first.

Water weekly through the first summer, and in dry spells after that, since drought scorches the leaves. In the wild deer eat the shoots and rabbits gnaw the bark, so cage young plants for two winters. Prune in spring right after the flowers fade. Cut out suckers unless you want a colony.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Gnats, midges and flower flies carry the pollen on mild winter days. Gall aphids, caterpillars and leaf spots can mark the leaves, and none of them is serious.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Hamamelis vernalis](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500659)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Hamamelis (genus)](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=114541)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Hamamelis vernalis](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hamamelis-vernalis/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Hamamelis vernalis](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=281022)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation Field Guide: Ozark Witch-Hazel](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/ozark-witch-hazel)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Vernal witch-hazel](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/vernal-witch-hazel/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Hamamelis vernalis](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HAVE2)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Hamamelis vernalis, from Bean](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/hamamelis/hamamelis-vernalis/)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Hamamelis chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/h/at_download/file)
- [Native Plant Network, Gregory Hoss, George O. White State Forest Nursery, Missouri, 2005: Hamamelis vernalis](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=hamamelidaceae-hamamelis-3044)

## 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 butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Ozark Witch Hazel, add ?species=ozark-witch-hazel with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=ozark-witch-hazel&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Ozark Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=ozark-witch-hazel): 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=ozark-witch-hazel
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Ozark Witch Hazel 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=ozark-witch-hazel
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Ozark Witch Hazel 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=ozark-witch-hazel:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Ozark Witch Hazel flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.