Inktober Day 25: A colorful Ozark witch hazel leaf

Reposted from Places of the Spirit.

Inktober Day 25: A colorful Ozark witch hazel leaf

I'm glad I waited to draw a leaf from the witch hazel in front of the house until today, since leaf color had accelerated overnight.

This tree, an Ozark witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) is a small vase-shaped tree native to the central U.S.  It was planted by the previous owner and was a nice choice, as it usually flowers from mid-February to early March.  I've posted on Natural Gardening several times in the past.  This link provides some nice images of the flowers.

It's grown a lot and we periodically prune back the stump sprouts, but otherwise, it's quite compatible with the pocket meadow and the subsequent plantings that we've done since we bought this house.

Nice to think about seeing the flowers this year, as we've been away the last two years in February, just seeing final flowers as we returned from Quebec.  

I chose an especially colorful leaf for today's Inktober drawing.  Our Eastern native, Hamamelis virginiana, has beautiful clear yellow leaves in fall.   We had a lovely one that we'd planted in front of our house in Clemson.

A colorful witch hazel leaf

subject and drawing