When bloods runs from the otherwise bare limbs of a witch hazel shrub, the end of winter is at hand. I think the yellow version of this is the one most typically seen and known, which makes this burgundy variation all the more intriguing. We want that which is rare and uncommon – at least, I do.
One of the first spring shrubs to dare to bloom, witch hazel is a brave and hardy little thing, often shining through late season snowfalls and whipping wind, not to mention the deluge of spring storms just around the corner. Such resilience in the face of Mother Nature’s final gasps of winter – always the most cruel – is a thing of rugged beauty. The embodiment of idealism in a crinkled bloom.
The most thrilling turn of seasons is when winter bleeds into spring – whether that’s in the running water of a melting pile of snow, or the metaphorically bloody clumps of this crimson witch hazel.
We are ready.
Let it come.
