Witch Hazel

Hamamelis virginiana

tree

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a native shrub or small tree of eastern woodlands, 15 to 30 ft tall, with a vase-shaped, layered form and broad leaves that turn clear gold in fall - just as its curious, spidery yellow flowers with strap-like petals unfurl, blooming improbably late, from October into winter, often while the spent leaves still cling. It is the source of the familiar astringent "witch hazel" extract used in skin care, distilled from its bark, twigs, and leaves, and those are its harvested parts. Easy, hardy, and shade-tolerant, it is grown for that astringent bark and as a four-season ornamental with fragrant, off-season bloom and good fall color.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Fern — A woodland companion for the moist, partly shaded ground beneath the shrub
• Wild Ginger — A shade groundcover suited to the same rich, acidic, moist soil
• Trillium — A spring wildflower that shares the dappled woodland conditions

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Leaf gall aphids →

  Cause cone-shaped galls on leaves; cosmetic only, and no treatment is needed on a healthy shrub

• Japanese beetles →

  Chew the foliage in summer; hand-pick in the cool morning

• Powdery mildew →

  White film on leaves in humid shade; give airflow and avoid crowding

🌾 Harvest & storage

Harvest the bark and twigs from prunings, and the leaves in summer, for the traditional astringent preparation; the inner bark, twigs, and leaves are all used. Take twigs and bark when you prune in late winter or after flowering, peel and dry the bark, and dry the leaves in the shade. Because it is grown as an ornamental too, most harvest comes from routine prunings and the suckers you remove, so the shrub stays shapely and full.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Witch hazel is not a food plant - it is grown for the astringent witch hazel extract distilled from its bark, twigs, and leaves, a classic household skin-care preparation used externally. In the garden its great gift is its season: spidery, faintly fragrant yellow flowers that open in late fall and winter when nothing else blooms, set against gold autumn foliage, on an easy, shade-tolerant native shrub.