Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby Glow'
This shrub bears fragrant dark red flowers with crimped petals on bare branches through the winter. You can find it in the Winter Garden at Rosemoor - just follow your nose as this plant bears beautifully fragrant flowers.
Vital statistics
- Common name
- Witch hazel 'Ruby Glow'
- Family
- Hamamelidaceae
- Height & spread
- 4m (12ft) x 4m (12ft)
- Form
- Deciduous shrub
- Soil
- Moderately fertile, moist but well-drained, acid to neutral
- Aspect
- Full or partial shade
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
Hamamelis
This genus contains five or six species of deciduous, mainly winter-flowering shrubs, found in woodlands, woodland margins and riverbanks in eastern Asia and North America.
The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate or obovate in shape and they provide attractive autumn colour. The flowers are fragrant, spider-shaped, yellow to reddish with strap-shaped petals, clustered on the bare branches, mostly from winter to spring.
The fruit is a horned capsule containing two shiny black seeds.
Witch hazels make good specimen plants and are also effective in groups in a shrub border.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby Glow'
This hybrid is of garden origin and is a cross between H. japonica and H. mollis. The name 'intermedia' means intermediate in colour, form or habit.
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby Glow' has bright green leaves up to 15cm (6in) long that turn yellow in autumn. In early or midwinter it bears fragrant, yellow, dark red or orange flowers, with crimped petals, on the bare branches.
Cultivation
Grow in moderately fertile, moist but well-drained, acid to neutral soil, in full sun or partial shade, in a site that is open but not exposed.
Pruning requirements are minimal: remove any crossing shoots in late winter or early spring to maintain a permanent, healthy framework.
Honey fungus and coral spot may be a problem.
Propagation
Sow seed in containers in a cold frame as soon as ripe. Germination may take a year or more.
Graft cultivars in late winter or bud in late summer.