Open witch
About a week ago, I highlighted the start of the first flower on the garden Witch Hazel, a cultivated member of the Hamamelis congregation whose members come in a number of colors and blooming times. Our natives are typically the last to bloom in the autumn, but this one, which I think has genes from both a Southeastern US species and Asian varieties, blooms as early as imaginable in the latter half of winter. We're now a bit past the midpoint of the cold season, so it was time to check on the garden witches and photograph their blooming progress. The weird little crepe-paper petals have now unrolled quite a bit, and there's color in the garden. Soon enough, there'll be pollinators to document... and to enable the plant to produce seeds.