
And so we continue our gentle cold wander around the wintry splendour of Swallow Hayes …….










And now to those Witch Hazels! These are not Hazels at all, but related to Parrotias, Fothergillas and of course the Sycopsis we saw in the first Swallow Hayes blog. Their unusually shaped flowers are in every shade of yellow, orange and red and give warming scents in the winter garden. Witch Hazels are well-known for their medicinal properties and are used in aftershave as well as in the treatment of bruises and insect bites. So, beautiful and useful!
The flowers are made up of long, thin strips of petals like curling ribbons or spiders, and appear on bare stems. Several Witch Hazels available to us were bred in Kalmhout in Belgium and the first photo shows one with the unglamorous name of “Kalmhout 999”. Kalmhout is an arboretum in Belgium run by Jelena and Robert de Kelder. Jelena has given her name to my favourite Witch Hazel which you will see in my blog “A Wander around the Garden in February” which I will post in the next few days. Two more of their developments are “Diane”, named after their daughter and “Livia”, named after their granddaughter.










One reply on “Witch Hazels at Swallow Hayes – a garden visit in January (part two)”
fantastic really amazing. had not realised you had such a wonderful garden and you have the allotment and your commitments there too!!! well done to you both regards Wendy BAC