I took this photo yesterday on my walk. It's witch hazel. Witch hazel blossoms late, really late. The plants here are the wild native variety. I can't see witch hazel in bloom without thinking of a wonderful trip I took with Amy. We went to Central Park in 2005 to see Christo's "The Gates". It was interesting to walk around inside an art installation. Christo said the gates were in contrast to the stark reality of winter in the park with no color.
This picture was taken in 2005. Christo's gates are in the background. Amy and I were delighted to find witch hazel in bloom in the Shakespere garden. I don't know if Christo would approve, but we were thrilled. The blooms on that witch hazel were not yellow, but orange, the same color as "The Gates". Curious,I looked for an orange witch hazel and found Hamamelis x intermedia "Jelena". Just imagine, it flowers in January or February. It also says zone 5 and I'm really should stick with zone 4. Still there's no harm is looking for it is there?
