This specimen is on the bank between the East Walk and the Moat Path

Hamamelis x Intermedia is a hybrid cross, of garden origin, between Hamamelis japonica (Japanese Witch Hazel) and Hamamelis mollis (Chinese Witch Hazel). Its Latin name refers to its intermediate appearance between those two species.

‘Arnold Promise‘ is a cultivar of Hamamelis x Intermedia.

A vase-shaped plant with twiggy branches. It bears lemon yellow, sweetly scented blooms, with petals 18 x 1.5 mm from mid-February to early March. Grows to 3 m tall by 2.5 m wide.

Supplied by B and Q, Northampton.

In the late 1950s staff at the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, noted the hybrid witch-hazel growing alongside the Arboretum’s Administration Building reliably bloomed with larger flowers and over a longer period than others. It also appeared to have gained the best qualities of its two parents. From Japanese Witch Hazel it had acquired a more hardy nature, longer and wavier petals, an attractive vase-shaped form, and no leaf retention in Autumn. From Chinese Witch Hazel it had acquired more abundant, vibrant and fragrant flowers. The plant was exceptional enough to be selected in 1963 to be registered as a cultivar and named ‘Arnold Promise.’

From the 1980s, ‘Arnold Promise’ witch-hazel has been circulated to nurseries worldwide. But, until recently, to a lesser extent in the UK.

Numerous cultivars of the hybrid Hamamelis x Intermedia have been developed.