Common Name: witch hazel
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 8.00 to 11.00 feet
Spread: 8.00 to 11.00 feet
Bloom Time: January to March
Bloom Description: Light red petals with orange tips
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Leaf: Good Fall
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Erosion, Clay Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best flowering is in full sun. Prefers moist, acidic, organically rich soils. Consistent moisture is best (leaf scorch may occur during periods of summer drought). Shrubs have some tolerance for clay soils as long as drainage is good. Promptly remove root suckers to prevent colonial spread. It is particularly important to remove root suckers rising from below a graft union. Prune in spring after flowering to control shape and size.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Hamamelis × intermedia hybrids are crosses between Japanese witch hazel (H. japonica) and Chinese witch hazel (H. mollis). They are somewhat coarse, loosely-branched, medium to large, deciduous shrubs that typically grow 12-20’ tall. They are particularly noted for their spidery, often fragrant, mid- to late winter flowers which appear before the spring foliage emerges.
Genus name comes from the Greek words hama meaning at same time and melon meaning apple or fruit in reference to the occurrence of both fruit and flowers at the same time on this shrub (particularly in the case of fall flowering members of the genus).
The hybrid name intermedia is in reference to the hybrid characteristics being intermediate between the characteristics of the two parent species.
‘Robert' has reddish-orange flowers. It typically matures as a vase-shaped shrub to 8-11' tall and as wide. Showy flowers in axillary clusters bloom along the bare stems in mid- to late winter. Each flower has four, narrow, ribbon-like, curled and crinkled, light red petals (each to 7/8" long) that fade to orange at the tips. Calyx is maroon-red. Flowers are fragrant. Obovate-rounded, medium green leaves (to 4” long) produce yellow-orange to bright red fall color.
Problems
Caterpillars and Japanese beetles may chew on the leaves. Watch for gall aphids, scale, leafroller and leafminer. Potential diseases include powdery mildew, occasional leaf spots and rots. Insect and disease issues are typically not serious and rarely warrant chemical control.
Uses
Superior winter-flowering shrub for the landscape. Shrub borders, woodland gardens. Screen or tall hedge. Good specimen.