Witch hazel, Hamamelis X Intermedia Jelena

New / Zone 5b

This witch hazel is a large deciduous shrub, remarkable for its fragrant spidery winter flowering, with long coppery orange and yellow ocher petals, tinged with red at the base, and for its foliage taking on yellow, orange and green hues in autumn. Easy to grow, it tolerates cold very well, which intensifies its flowering. It flourishes in partial shade, in acidic to neutral soil, remaining cool. A wonder!

Hamamelis (x) intermedia 'Jelena' is a horticultural variety obtained around 1935. It is part of a group of cultivars resulting from the cross between Hamamelis japonica and H. mollis, originating from Japan and China respectively. All these plants belong to the Hamamelidaceae family, including Loropetalum, Liquidambar and Persian Parrotia. 'Jelena' slowly forms a large, vigorous shrub with a flared shape and ascending branches, reaching 4 m in all directions at maturity. Its foliage, deciduous, is composed of oval leaves, initially yellowish green with bronze reflections in spring, becoming dark green in summer, then turning yellow and coppery orange in autumn, crossed with green areas, filling the garden with warm tones. Its fragrant flowers delight just as much as its colorful foliage. They abound on bare branches during the months of January and February, composed of numerous elongated and curiously wrinkled petals, almost clawed like witch's fingers. 

Hamamelis intermedia ‘Jelena’ likes soils rich in humus, poor in limestone, cool, light. A partial shade exposure will suit it perfectly. Install it at the edge of the undergrowth, under large trees or at the bottom of a massif