late bloomer

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Now that cold weather has seized the valley, you might think the flowering season is over. Yet, there is one stubborn shrub found throughout the east that is a “late bloomer.” That tardy, tenacious plant is witch hazel or in some places it’s known as “winterbloom” for obvious reasons.

One of these delayed delights grows near my office at the nature center. I’ve been watching it closely for weeks, beginning in October and through November, as the leaves turned from green to yellow and then dropped off. During this time, the small flower buds slowly grew. December arrived and the bare shrub looked dormant, except for its embryonic blossoms. And then finally, the first flowers began to open.

The yellow spiderlike blossoms are sparse; each has only four twisted threadlike petals. They look something like a cheerleader’s pompom that has lost most of its pom. This meagerness has a purpose. There’s less surface area to lose water; a real concern of plants active in the dry humidity of winter. (Pine needles are thin for the same reason.) And by blooming now, witch hazel has no competition for the few flying insect pollinators that are out and about on a sunny winter’s day.

You might wonder: Where's the witch in witch hazel? Well its origin comes from the Middle English wiche rooted in the old English wice meaning "pliant" or "bendable." Its supple wood was once used for dowsing, i.e. looking for water hidden below ground with a flexible fork of wood, a bewitching process also know as water-witching.

- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center

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