Native Witch Hazel

The native witch hazel has been blooming for a while. It blooms much earlier and is less showy than it’s cultivated cousins. These photos were taken about a month ago.

Witch hazel is an understory tree, so it thrives in the woods or along the edges of the woods. It prefers the cool shady areas and with too much sun it will produce fewer blooms. These trees are located in the woods to side of our gardens. What a great plant it is since it blooms at this weird time. When the rest of the natural world is preparing for winter it bursts forth in radiant blooms, which will last into December.

Hamamelis virginiana was one of the first New World plants to be adopted for ornamental use by European horticulturists. As early as the mid-17th century, the plant was growing in private botanical collections in London. And it’s been a perennial favorite ever since. Witch-hazel has a rich history of use outside the garden setting. Traditionally, branches of H. virginiana were used as “divining rods” to locate underground sources of water. Also, extracts from the leaves, twigs, and bark were used to reduce inflammation, stop bleeding, and check secretions of the mucous membranes.

Since witch hazel usually blooms after most of the pollinators are gone, it doesn’t often produce seed. I think with the warm weather we’ve had this year, I may be able to find some seeds next year to plant along the edges of our woods.

What native shrubs or trees do you love?

Protecting Hydrangeas from Winter Weather

Hydrangeas are beautiful shrubs, I’d have to say my favorite flowering bush. I have 12 hydrangeas in my gardens, 11 different kinds. I don’t know if I can pick a favorite, I really love them all.


I have a few that have never bloomed because they’re the kind of hydrangea that only blooms on old wood. They aren’t hardy to this zone and the buds freeze out on the stems each year. I also have some hydrangeas that bloom on both old and new wood, these varieties are nice for our zone because if the buds freeze out you still get some blooms.

This was my hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’ in 2008, it’s 2nd year in the garden. This past winter was tough on the hydrangeas, we had some very cold weather. Because of all the snow on the ground, the local deer decided hydrangea buds made for delicious winter eating. My ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas didn’t bloom all summer long because the deer ate all the early summer blooms. They bloomed this fall, but they weren’t nearly as pretty as last summer.

I have “Nikko Blue’ hydrangea that has only bloomed 3 years of the 8 we’ve lived here. This one needs crated to bloom because it only blooms on old wood. I have a few other varieties like this, a variegated hydrangea, another red one (can’t remember the name) and one that gets wintered over in the garage in a big pot.

This year I finally decided to protect a few of my hydrangeas from the harsh NE Ohio winters and the nibble deer. My efforts should be rewarded with beautiful blooms all summer long!

There are several different methods for protecting hydrangeas. I’m going to use 2 of them. The first method will be used on my large mature hydrangeas. I’m wrapping them with burlap and stuffing the burlap with leaves. This should insulate the stems from the cold and keep the deer out.

I used red yarn to tie off the burlap because it’s easy to see. Next spring it will make it easy to unwrap the hydrangeas, I’ll be able to spot the ties easily. It also makes for easy spotting of your needle in case you drop it.

I put stakes around the shrub, 3 spaced in a triangular shape. I used 3 instead of 4 because I only have 6 nice wooden stakes and I have 2 very large hydrangeas that require heavy stakes. I’ll use smaller bamboo stakes around the smaller bushes.

I wrapped burlap around the stakes (it’s 4 ft tall) and filled the area inside with leaves. I finished wrapping one and I still have another large one to wrap. I’ll fill you in on the second method I’ll be using next week when I have some photos to show.

It’s not the prettiest thing, but I think in the snow it will look nice. I it’s worth looking at burlap all winter to see beautiful hydrangeas all summer long. One hydrangea down, 11 more to go.

Do go to any great lengths to protect any specific plants in your garden?

Keep Your Fuchsia Blooming

I have a fuchsia on my side porch by one of my hummingbird feeders. It’s quite lovely and the hummingbirds love it.

In order to keep it blooming all summer long I’ve been cutting off the fruits when they form. The fruits are those little green nubs that appear when a blossom dries up, you can see one in front of the flower in this photo.

If you keep these cut off the plant will continue blooming, if you don’t they’ll quit blooming.

Do you have any great tips for keeping certain plants in tip top shape?

Plant Spotlight: Scilla (Siberian Squill)

These lovely little Scillas (Siberian Squill) bloom beautifully each year. They’re actually one of the first things to bloom each spring in my gardens. These were planted 4 years ago and they have comes back each year (unlike some tulips).

They have tiny little flowers that appear while the stems are still short and then the stems grow longer. Since these plants look best en masse, plant in groups with around 20 per square foot. These small bulbs can also be planted on top of deeper-planted spring bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips (although I think I like them by themselves).

Scillas will grow in a shady spot, as long as the shade is produced by deciduous trees that lose their leaves in the winter. Since scillas come up early in the spring they will get sun in a spot that is shaded in the summer. This makes them a very versatile plant for those shady spots that might not be able to have blooms the rest of the summer.

Like most bulbs, Scillas do best in soils with good drainage and an lots of organic matter, in wet soils the bulbs can rot. The small bulbs are planted in the fall, 2 to 3 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart. I like these so much, I’m hoping to add some more of these to my gardens this fall, I may try to find some white and pink ones.

Another plus is that they’re deer resistant, which is a huge plus here at Chiot’s run, since the deer eat most of my tulips each spring. I like to invest in flowers, not deer food.

What are your favorite spring bulbs?

Plant Spotlight: Mediterranean Pink Heather

I have a few Mediterranean Pink Heather plants on my front hillside rock garden. The thing I love most about these carefree plants are the fact that they’re the first thing to bloom every year. They are blooming profusely right now. I do love this plant, it’s really nice to see something colorful in the garden right now.

Plant Strengths: Sun loving drought tolerant plant; Scented blossom; Attracts wildlife to feed or nest; All round tough plant suitable for problem areas; Provides valuable winter interest; Evergreen foliage for all year round color and screening; Suitable for container growing; Suitable for exposed coastal planting; Attractive form or foliage for all year interest; Tolerates full sun and sandy, drought-prone soils; Tolerates cold exposed locations.

Is anything blooming in your gardens right now?