Wonderland!

The garden of St John's College, Oxford, under snow.

So here is a magic arch leading into one of my favourite gardens in Oxford.

Just to the left of this entrance is a witch-hazel (Hamamelis) tree that flowers in winter. It emits the most fabulous fragrance, most delightful as one enters the garden. We come to enjoy the smell every year, and have planted a small witch-hazel shrub in our own garden, which too our joy has flowered this year and brought this special smell to our home.

I was interested to see if the odour would persist even in the cold weather (the vapour pressure of the volatile component would presumably be rather low). But happily, the smell was there. We'll have to wait until next winter to see if the tree and its perfume are still there (so long as we are!).

There was a nice piece about the fragrance of witch hazel in The Guardian for 15 January: a description of flowering in the Tamar Valley. The article is worth a look! There's another nice appreciation of witch hazels and their smell in The Telegraph for today.