A beautiful shrub grown for its elegant structure and its fragrant winter flowering.
Of all the red-to-orange witch hazels...Read More grown in the Arnold Arboretum, this is the showiest. Best when seen close-up or backlit by the low winter sun. It doesn't stand out in the landscape as strongly as the yellows, but it's showier than the reds like 'Diane'.
Most plants are grafted on H. virginiana understock and need root suckers cut off annually to keep them from outcompeting the cultivar. (H. virginiana root suckers retain dead leaves into winter, the cultivar does not.)
As with all witch hazels, unskilled pruning reduces flowering and destroys its graceful natural architecture. Plant this where its ultimate size and width will be assets. It wants to grow wider than high. I would not space these closer than 12'.
Pickering, ON (Zone 6a) | September 2013 | positive
We now have at least 7 varieties of witch hazel growing on our property, and Jelena is my favourite so far. Striking fall colours in the ...Read Moreleaves, and so many gorgeous little blooms from mid-January that hang on through the snow and cold for nearly two months! Jelena was the first hybrid to flower for us, the Orange Beauty and Arnold's Promise started blooming two to three weeks later. What a joy to have flowers growing in winter! I couldn't wait for a big snowstorm, because it made the flowers look even more beautiful and precious. Subtle but very nice scent, also.
Update: April 2014 - After this historically harsh and bitterly cold winter, with an ice storm that knocked power out for days, most of the witch hazels had lost nearly all their flower buds. Arnold's Promise, Orange Beauty, and Magic Fire were duds this year. Diane (planted last fall) did better, but Jelena, even though flowering was delayed until April, is spectacular and covered in blooms!
Named for Jelena de Belder of Belgium. This cultivar is favored in many of the sources for its upright spreading form and the beauty ...Read Moreof the copper blossoms in winter.
A beautiful shrub grown for its elegant structure and its fragrant winter flowering.
Of all the red-to-orange witch hazels...Read More
We now have at least 7 varieties of witch hazel growing on our property, and Jelena is my favourite so far. Striking fall colours in the ...Read More
Named for Jelena de Belder of Belgium. This cultivar is favored in many of the sources for its upright spreading form and the beauty ...Read More
Received The Royal Horticultural Society, Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993, reconfirmed in 2005.