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Nanking Cherry vs Witch Hazel
Prunus tomentosa
Hamamelis virginiana
NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON
Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.
Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.
Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.
Note: This species is currently unavailable. Grow your own using Nanking Cherry seeds at SeedTime.ca.
Witch Hazel is a deciduous shrub, or small tree, with a short trunk, bearing numerous spreading, crooked branches.
The seeds grow in a long, wooden pod with two to four seeds per pod. Upon ripening, the pods burst, firing the seeds up to 30km an hour.
The leaf and bark extract of Witch Hazel has been used as a remedy to common ailments such as inflammation, bruises and much more for many centuries.