Arnold Palmer Witch Hazel

A neighbor has one of these in her front yard that is gorgeous with it's yellow flowers and great bark.

Has anyone used one for bonsai? I couldn't find hardly anything searching google so I'm thinking not. But why not if so?

FORE,,, i found one at a local nursery and loved the flowers.... it is posted on page 6 .. i like the tree but everyone says the leaves are too big.. i was told to use it when the flowers bud on bare limbs then just put it in a corner....hope this helps.. take care john

Found it John, Thanks! Can you post a picture of yours when it leaves out? I'm curious about the leaves. Wonder if it'll respond to leaf reduction?

FORE,,, I will post when it leaves out.. i don,t know about leaf reduction .. we will see.... take care john

i would like to share pics of my prebonsai witch hazel in bloom.

EBBTIDE,,,Nice looking tree.. i am hopeing mine will branch out more this year..we will have to compare them later this growing season..take care john

Ebbtide, very nice witch hazel in bloom! Where did you find such a nice stock?

moyogijohn wrote:EBBTIDE,,,Nice looking tree.. i am hopeing mine will branch out more this year..we will have to compare them later this growing season..take care john

john, thanks. i just got the tree from a nursery. i'll let it establish in the new pot first and wait till next year for styling. i would like to see the progress of your tree. ciao, philip

Fore wrote:Ebbtide, very nice witch hazel in bloom! Where did you find such a nice stock?

hi fore, believe it or not, this tree was hidden under a display table and covered with dried leaves. i saw some yellow peeking through the wooden slats, got curious and stripped the cover. obviously it was in full bloom and Wolf Trap Nursery here in Virginia wasn't ready to take it out for spring display. there were a couple i saw but the other had too straight of a trunk so i picked this one. ciao, philip

Very nice find Ebbtide! Isn't it weird how sometimes we find treasures in the strangest places. I just read a thread where this guy got this great Bald Cypress out of a trash heap lol

Here's an update of my witch hazel this spring.

Here's how the plant looked when bought in 2012.

While they're certainly not a commonly used species, I've seen a few very nice specimens of Japanese Witch Hazel, called "mansaku" in Japan. I can't remember the year off hand, but one graced the cover of a Kokufu album in the last decade or so.
The leaves are rather large, but the ramification isn't coarse, its relatively fine in fact, so whoever told you that it could only be appreciated in flower was a shortsighted at best. The emerging leaves are attractive, so I see good potential in the species for full winter ramification display, flowering display, and early spring display. All deciduous leaves reduce to a certain extant, even given the large original size, from what I've seen of the Japanese wych hazel, I think it's quite underused.
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net/