Hamamelis Week

With the Hamamelis back in flower in week 2011/10, we are reflecting on how it and its like can be better situated. In the bleak, washed-out colours of a winter landscape, it really needs a background of dark or saturated colour to stand out. In the midst of a motley, moss-addled lawn, it looks like more of the same. Hamamelis looks effective against a clear blue sky, and against a background of lush green yew. We may plant one in front of the Thuja on the front boundary, where it would at least cheer pedestrians as they pass, and perhaps an underplanting of Eranthis hyemalis, now coming out, would add to the delight.