Vinegar and Dirt
I have convinced myself that the thing to have here in my Santa Fe walled courtyard is a sweet smelling winter flowering large shrub: Hamamelis mollis, witch hazel.
In this unusually warm Santa Fe winter we are spending a lot of time out on our patio. The air is cool, but the sun is so warm, and we spend most afternoons sitting outside without a jacket -- in the sun it's comfortably, drowsily, nap inducingly warm. Hot, even.
How great would it be to have the clear, spicy perfume of a winter flowering witch hazel right there? The color of yellow blooms, the structure of a small tree by the back deck where I spend time in the winter sunshine.... just the perfect thing.
But I'll probably have to grow witch hazel in a large pot. That means it will stay small, and never become a spreading elegant shape like the beautiful pictures above. But it can be done, and they will bloom -- Dan Pearson has grown them successfully in containers.
In the same article linked above, Dan says he has grown hamamelis in limestone soil in the Cotswolds in England, even though witch hazels need slightly acid to neutral soil to grow best. The soil issue is the big reason I didn't think I could grow a witch hazel here. I was sure I had a high alkaline level, and finally decided to test it.
There's a simple chemical reaction that can determine if you have high ph: pour a little vinegar on the soil and see if it produces any bubbles.
So I went out one sunny winter afternoon and poured vinegar on my dirt. Aaack.
It bubbled and effervesced and fizzed and made a mound of frothy suds. It was the Mt. Vesuvius of erupting dirt bubbles. The reaction was enough to move small boulders. Uphill.
No inconclusive or possibly uncertain results -- I got what soil guys call Vigorous Fizzing. I have soil that is essentially lye.
You want to know what ph actually measures, don't you? Of course you do.
It's the weight of hydrogen, or Pounds of Hydrogen. When something acid enters water it gives up a hydrogen ion to the water and has fewer hydrogen ions, so it weighs less. When something alkaline contacts water it takes up a hydrogen ion from the water and weighs more. Pure water is neutral, it has an equal number of hydrogen and oxygen (technically hydroxide) ions.
That's it. Vinegar and bubbling dirt are irrefutable predictors that a witch hazel would not grow well here.
But I decided to try one in a container and see how that goes. And here it is: Hamamelis 'Sweet Sunshine' newly arrived by mail order and just potted up. It's February, but it's 60 degrees out, and potting plants in the mild sunshine made me feel like I was gardening in spring.
It's looking a little pale and distressed from its journey in a shipping box in mid winter. It's only a few twigs right now, with some blooms that have gone by at the bottom.
I need to let it settle in and adjust to the light and air. I am giving it the safest possible home, in a pot, out of the alkaline soil, and in shade for now until it gets established and can handle some New Mexico sun.
______________________________________________________ By the way . . . .
For those of you who followed my gardening blog in the past, you'll remember I grew witch hazels in my Connecticut garden and despaired with them. They held on to their brown leaves all winter and looked ugly. The hybrid I got, "Diane' had stunted looking flowers, sparse blooming and little scent. When they did bloom fitfully it was always too snowbound to get out in the yard and see or smell them. Witch hazels were not a success for me even though they grow beautifully all throughout New England.
So with that history, why am I even thinking of growing witch hazel in Santa Fe?
Well, as every gardener understands, this time will be different.
Also, winter is cold enough here to give witch hazels the deep chill they need to bloom, but not so harsh as CT, so we're outside a lot. And in a pot I can put it right on the deck and enjoy it close up. The scent really is lovely and I think I can make it work.
Like I said, this time it will be different.
 |
| Hamamelis 'Arnold's Promise' -- how great would this witch hazel be by my fence in winter? |
In this unusually warm Santa Fe winter we are spending a lot of time out on our patio. The air is cool, but the sun is so warm, and we spend most afternoons sitting outside without a jacket -- in the sun it's comfortably, drowsily, nap inducingly warm. Hot, even.
How great would it be to have the clear, spicy perfume of a winter flowering witch hazel right there? The color of yellow blooms, the structure of a small tree by the back deck where I spend time in the winter sunshine.... just the perfect thing.
 |
| Witch hazels bloom in winter, looking like very lovely early forsythias. Only nicer. |
But I'll probably have to grow witch hazel in a large pot. That means it will stay small, and never become a spreading elegant shape like the beautiful pictures above. But it can be done, and they will bloom -- Dan Pearson has grown them successfully in containers.
 |
| I could even get several and grow witch hazels that bloom in different colors. |
In the same article linked above, Dan says he has grown hamamelis in limestone soil in the Cotswolds in England, even though witch hazels need slightly acid to neutral soil to grow best. The soil issue is the big reason I didn't think I could grow a witch hazel here. I was sure I had a high alkaline level, and finally decided to test it.
There's a simple chemical reaction that can determine if you have high ph: pour a little vinegar on the soil and see if it produces any bubbles.
So I went out one sunny winter afternoon and poured vinegar on my dirt. Aaack.
It bubbled and effervesced and fizzed and made a mound of frothy suds. It was the Mt. Vesuvius of erupting dirt bubbles. The reaction was enough to move small boulders. Uphill.
No inconclusive or possibly uncertain results -- I got what soil guys call Vigorous Fizzing. I have soil that is essentially lye.
 |
| This was the reaction I got from vinegar poured on my garden soil, except it was brown and full of dirt. |
You want to know what ph actually measures, don't you? Of course you do.
It's the weight of hydrogen, or Pounds of Hydrogen. When something acid enters water it gives up a hydrogen ion to the water and has fewer hydrogen ions, so it weighs less. When something alkaline contacts water it takes up a hydrogen ion from the water and weighs more. Pure water is neutral, it has an equal number of hydrogen and oxygen (technically hydroxide) ions.
That's it. Vinegar and bubbling dirt are irrefutable predictors that a witch hazel would not grow well here.
But I decided to try one in a container and see how that goes. And here it is: Hamamelis 'Sweet Sunshine' newly arrived by mail order and just potted up. It's February, but it's 60 degrees out, and potting plants in the mild sunshine made me feel like I was gardening in spring.
It's looking a little pale and distressed from its journey in a shipping box in mid winter. It's only a few twigs right now, with some blooms that have gone by at the bottom.
This is an example of what I hope my new 'Sweet Sunshine' will grow into -- in a few years, perhaps -- complete with the fragrance I'm so eagerly anticipating:
______________________________________________________ By the way . . . .
So with that history, why am I even thinking of growing witch hazel in Santa Fe?
Well, as every gardener understands, this time will be different.
Also, winter is cold enough here to give witch hazels the deep chill they need to bloom, but not so harsh as CT, so we're outside a lot. And in a pot I can put it right on the deck and enjoy it close up. The scent really is lovely and I think I can make it work.
Like I said, this time it will be different.
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