There’s a shrub that shines with yellow even before forsythia in early spring. Witch hazel blossoms were spotted in the province last week.
Alice D’Entremont photo
Witching into Spring
Spring has arrived in the banana-belt end of the province. Alice D’Entremont, owner of Ouest-Ville Perennials in West Pubnico reports specie crocus in bloom and (of course) snowdrops. But what has her really excited is something she found nearby while clearing away old hosta and maple leaves from the early flowers.
“I thought I should walk over to my Witch hazel to check if the thing is blooming yet. After seven years… it has bloomed. Wow! It has six blooms, with the promise of more to come from plump buds throughout the shrub,” she said.
D’Entremont planted her Witch hazel beneath a Maple tree as an understory plant and says that it looks a lot like a common alder bush when in leaf, but the bright yellow flowers are unmistakably Witch hazel.
These deciduous shrubs usually grow no more than 20-25 feet tall and have the unusual habit of holding their fruit, flowers and next year’s leaf buds on branches simultaneously. Another name for this plant is Winterbloom.
Branches were used as divining rods in Middle England times. Witch hazel has been famous for centuries as being the source for an astringent and having medicinal qualities.
Extracts from its bark and leaves are used in aftershave lotions and solutions for treating bruises and insect bites. Witch hazel is the active ingredient in many hemorrhoid medications.
The American Distilling and Manufacturing Co. in Connecticut is the world's largest producer of distilled Witch hazel extracts. The shrubs grow in abundance in New England. Starting in late autumn and through the winter and spring seasons, cutters harvest large quantities of witch hazel twigs and bark. This is then screened, cleaned and transferred to huge storage silos where it is conditioned for the distillation process. Sophisticated extraction and processing equipment extracts the aromatic and organic constituents to produce the finished product.
Some people make their own tincture preparation by soaking stripped witch hazel bark in twice its weight of isopropyl or rubbing alcohol for about two weeks. Shake or stir the tincture twice daily. Then strain, bottle and store in a cool place. Dilute with at least two parts of distilled water before use. This is for external use only.
The American Distilling and Manufacturing Co. claims that more witch hazel is used than any other botanical ingredient in the world,
including aloe vera.
