Greer Gardens, located in Eugene, OR, carries two varieties of hamamelis vernalis. One is Purpurea (purple flowers and foliage; red-purple fall foliage). The other is Sandra (yellow flowers, plum purple new growth, long-lasting red and scarlet fall foliage). I'm giving serious thought to ordering the second one myself (was just reading about it this morning); from their description, it sounds like it might be the more fragrant of the two.

This will be my first year ordering from Greer Gardens, but I've received the catalog for a couple of years now. The number of color photos is limited, but the descriptions are very detailed, and for every plant they specify the minimum temperature it can handle--by degrees, not zone. Fantastic resource. Not only that, but I defy you to find another catalog with as many offerings. They offer, for example, 19 kinds of witch hazel--not to mention hundreds of rhododendrons. There are more photos on the web site.

Jennifer

Here is a link that might be useful: Greer Gardens

I just bought one yesterday from Christianson's Nursery in Skagit County. The label states it grows to 12 feet tall though. Mine is a Hamamelis vernalis and the tag doesn't specify if it's a Sandra or anything else. I believe these are fairly slow growing. The aforementioned Greer Gardens states that hamamelis vernalis "can" reach heights of 6-10Â. I would assume this would be under ideal conditions, so too shady, too wet, too dry, etc. will probably affect the growth rate and there's always pruning!

I can't wait to plant mine-need to make a raised bed to keep it out of the really wet winter ground. Found it was hard to find much info about it, but have gleaned that they are the hardiest and are more fragrant than others. Can't wait to have natural hummingbird food too for our winter residents since it blooms in the winter. Hummingbirds are the sole reason I decided on the witch hazel, but the shape, fall color, part shade tolerant and fragrance are all bonuses!

Christianson's Nursery said that typically they get in more witch hazels in August. They go quickly in the winter I'm told from different nurseries, so if you've still had no luck in getting the right one for you, maybe someone will have it in a few months.

Mine has no purple, but also has no new growth. Just a nice green leafed shrub about 2 1/2' tall. Was $30. Summerson's Nursery (Skagit County) has Arnold's Promise and other varieties for $50, though they're larger. I can't remember what the tag said, but claimed it got way too tall for what I want. I asked about it and they said they've never seen witch hazels that tall. They were very surprised it was labeled so tall. I don't know, maybe the tags put the highest possible height they could achieve?

Good luck and hope I've been helpful.