Hello Witch Hazel
Winter. It’s definitely not my favourite season, but if I look hard enough I can find some charm. I do really have to look though, especially when it’s pouring with rain!
My favourite season is probably spring when all of the bulbs, that we’ll have planted back in the autumn, push out of the dark, cold soil and burst into cheerful pops of colour. As gardeners, it’s so satisfying to see that the hard work of burying hundreds of bulbs on our hands and knees, has paid off.
Another bonus of planting spring bulbs is having immediate access to fresh flowers to put in my selection of charity shop jugs, but during these grey, wintery day there’s not much choice. However, this morning, being one such day, the Witch Hazel seemed to wave at me from the end of the garden so I put on my coat and went and snipped off a lovely sprig of the stuff. Hello Witch Hazel!
‘Winter Scent’ by Jill Poole. Witch Hazel Collagraph print, embellished with painting and collage.
This beautiful plant with its curious, crinkly, bright-yellow petals and delicious citrus scent has been flowering since the beginning of December in our garden. On top of that, its nectar is loved by bees and other pollinators. It’s a great shrub for medium to small gardens and as well as being a source of cheerfulness during the winter months, the branches can be used for divining rods for water witching (good to know if you’re ever searching for water) and the bark is used for both medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
Along with these benefits it’s a source of inspiration to me and I love to make art depicting Witch Hazel, so determined again to capture the beauty of this plant in print, I made this little hand-coloured, drypoint etching and collage.
‘Hello Witch Hazel’ Hand-coloured, drypoint etching and collage.
However, I have just come across the most beautiful image: ‘Snowdrops and Witch Hazel’ by Winifred Nicholson which makes me think that perhaps I should keep trying to improve my style!
Thanks for reading. Have a lovely weekend.
Jill x