I’ve always admired plants that look better when they have no leaves or flowers. Any plant can solicit attention when it’s covered with pink and white/green and yellow variegated, chartreuse, burgundy, serrated, dissected or twisted foliage. And, of course, we all like flowers, the bigger the better.
But plants that grab your attention in the dead of winter when there are no gaudy leaves or flirtatious flowers to attract us, those are plants that are worth noticing.
One such plant is Corylus avellana ‘Contorta,’ more commonly known as Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick. Corylus is the genus that gives us the ornamental filbert or hazelnut. Personally I think the filbert finds its highest form when it’s turned into the wonderful liqueur Frangelico, but the contorted form of the avellana species is a wonder in its own right.
The branching of this shrub is amazing. The entire plant consists of contorted and spiraling branches, beginning at the base and continuing right up to the ends. It’s a spectacular sight in the winter garden, especially when the branches are edged with a light snowfall and backlit by late winter sun.
At first glance you’d think that such a plant is a laboratory creation, or a result of misguided chemical use in the garden. Indeed, I have seen plants subjected to drift from herbicides that twist in a similar fashion.
Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ is not manufactured however. It was found in a hedgerow, those lengthy and tall barricades of plants found in Europe. Filberts are used for such purposes in England, and this is where the plant was spotted back in the mid-1800’s.
The plant will grow slowly to nearly three metres tall, but it will take many years to achieve that height. Unlike the species it does not produce any fruit. Because it’s grafted onto rootstock of the species it tends to sucker from the base. Remove them as they occur, or the species will overtake the cultivar and you’ll have a filbert bush with a contorted cousin somewhere in the middle.
The Contorted Filbert also looks spectacular right about now when the delicate golden-yellow catkins hang from the stems, quaking in the slightest breeze. These are the male flowers; the female blooms must be seen up close as they emerge from the buds.
Another unusual aspect of this plant is that when the leaves emerge they are also twisted. It’s not the most attractive look. In fact, to me they look like they’ve been attacked by leaf rollers but that’s just my opinion. I’ll leave it to you to form your own conclusion.
In the past few years another cultivar has found its way into garden centres. ‘Red Majestic’ has foliage which emerges a beautiful reddish-purple. In the fall the leaves turn to a burnt burgundy colour and when they drop the catkins are not yellow, but purple.
If you’re wondering where the common name originated, Harry Lauder was a very popular Scottish entertainer, who carried his trademark contorted walking stick with him on stage.
