Broken Arrow

Cold, low 40s. rainy, stormy.  Got 1.3 inches of rain yesterday and today.  Wind.

Jim and I went to the Magic Witches of Winter talk at Broken Arrow.  The slide show / talk was ok, nothing I didn't already know.  But he did pass around cut branches from various hazels, and for the first time I smelled witch hazel fragrance.  Very perfumy!  Sweet, a little heady and cloying, but out in the open they would be delightful.

There were several examples of Hamamelis intermedia Diane.  Here's what it is supposed to look like:

Here's mine.  It definitely needs a green (conifer) or light (another hamamelis but yellow) background so we will see it from the kitchen window, so start thinking what to plant behind it.  And I guess I need to be patient.

Some tips:  prune off the tips of the branches down to the buds for fuller compact growth.  It needs very acid soil... try some elemental sulphur?

Here's Broken Arrow's own introduction, a Hamamelis mollis Sweet Sunshine.  Really nice, maybe put this behind H. Diane for the contrast of red and yellow (plus a green conifer)?:

Another note of interest: Broken Arrow has a mature Gingko Spring Grove growing in the circle by the house (where the toy railroad runs).  Check it out in leaf in summer!  It looks to be about 3 or 4 feet tall, with a solid looking trunk, lots of branches.

And finally:  I picked up my major new acquisitions!

• Magnolia Elizabeth 
• Hydrangea serrata Bluebird
• Stewartia monadelpha
• Cercis Silver Cloud
• Two Iteas for the front walk (Sprich Little Henry)
• Two Actinidia kolomiktas for the pots in front of the meters

There's some concern about the variegated redbud Silver Cloud.  Adam at the nursery says it really needs perfect conditions (well drained, but consistently moist, some shade).  Another customer said he had killed two already.  It might be too fussy or fragile for the center of the backyard right off the patio, where I want to put it (in full sun).