The bright yellow flowers of American witch-hazel appear during late fall

By the time Thanksgiving rolls around in Michigan, you'd think that we've seen the last of outdoor blooming plants until spring — that’s not necessarily the case, however.

American witch-hazel, also called common witch-hazel, is a native plant in our area that surprises us by blooming in late fall into December. Yellow witch-hazel flowers are often spotted out in the woods when all of the other trees and shrubs are completely bare.

They can be seen flowering even in the snow that we sometimes get in November. I remember back when I was a kid, I used to see them along the edge of the woods near our house and wonder: Are those funny-looking yellow things on that bush some kind of flower?

Their bright yellow flowers emerge in clusters along the length of the branches. Each individual flower has four thin, flat, wavy petals that are about three-quarters of an inch long. While the flowers of the native variety of witch-hazel are not huge and showy, they can have many flowers blooming at the same time providing the shrub with nice color.

Like many other plants, witch-hazel flowers are pollinated by insects. Since their flowers open in late fall, you may wonder how they are pollinated since there are so few insects around at this time of year.

Fortunately for the witch-hazel plant there is a certain type of moth that stays active during freezing weather. These moths belong to the owlet moth family (Noctuidae). They fly at night looking for sources of nutrition such as tree sap and flower nectar.

Witch-hazel flower nectar is a favorite food for these moths since it is the only thing blooming in late fall. Much like bees and other pollinating insects, when the moths feed on the nectar they transport pollen as they fly from flower to flower allowing pollination to occur.

Although pollination happens this time of the year, the seeds don't start to grow until spring. They are produced in easy to spot green seed capsules that form where the flowers were.

It takes many months for the seed to mature. Seed capsules are held on the plant into the following season before they finally ripen. That makes witch-hazel a bit unusual for a native plant in that it has both seeds and flowers on its branches at the same time.

Seed capsules that are present this fall are from flowers that were pollinated last fall. As they mature and turn brown in the second fall, they will open with a pop! with each capsule discharging two seeds 10 feet to sometimes even 30 feet away. The seeds then take another year to germinate.

Witch-hazels have two growth forms, they can grow either as a small tree or as a shrub. As a tree they can grow up to 20 feet tall while the shrub form is shorter generally growing to not much over 12 feet. The shrub tends to grow slowly; the one in our yard is about 10 feet tall and has been there for almost 20 years. Their slow growth habit can be an advantage in smaller yards since they rarely get too big for a space and out-grow their welcome.

While the tree form is generally fairly small, there is a Michigan Big Tree witch-hazel in Muskegon County that is 43 feet tall.

In the landscape you can use individual plants as an accent or grow several in a row for an interesting fall flowering border.

During autumn, witch-hazel leaves turn golden-yellow adding their attractive color to the autumn landscape. On plants growing on some sites, the leaves will hold on to the plant longer masking the flowers for a while until they finally drop allowing the flowers to be seen.

Folks who practice water witching or water dowsing (searching for underground water sources) often prefer to use forked American witch-hazel branches to make their dowsing rods. Witch-hazel astringent used for skin care is derived from the leaves, twigs and bark.

Plant nurseries and garden centers sell potted witch-hazel but be aware that they often offer the imported Japanese witch-hazel or Chinese witch-hazel, both of which bloom in mid to late winter rather than in the fall. There is a native species called vernal which-hazel that is sometimes available, but these also bloom in late winter.

Witch-hazel gives the growing season one last hurrah!