Another Perfect Plant: Corylopsis spicata

The delightful Corylopsis spicata, Spike Winter Hazel, stands out in late February as we emerge from winter and into spring.  Clusters of luminous butter-yellow bell-shaped flowers (racemes) dangle against a backdrop of graceful zig zagging grey branches that “glow like little lanterns” – as noted in the Great Plant Picks description of this wonderful shrub.  The flowers are sweetly fragrant and attract bees and hummingbirds in the early spring.

 Corylopsis spicata will reach 5’ tall to 7’ wide over ten years and the flowers will fade in April.   Purplish leaves will follow and transition to green and blue green leaves in the summer and yellow in the fall.  In the Hamamelidacae family, it has the characteristic heart-shaped crinkled leaf that other Winter Hazels and Witch Hazels share.

 This greatly loved shrub, originally from Japan, is written about with much enthusiasm as one can discover with a quick search on the web.  It brings color, fragrance, and joy to the otherwise gray winter.

 On the Seattle Waterfront, Corylopsis spicata is found growing in the large, raised beds just south of the new aquarium.  It is part of a rich planting design and its blooms will be overlapped by the Forsythia x intermedia ‘Mindor’, Show Off Forsythia and Tulip Sylvestris and then 44 other plant species, that will create a symphony of botanical form, color and fragrance as we progress throughout the year.