A glorious example of a Corkscrew Hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) in flower now (mid-March)
This tree is at its best in winter/early spring, when its corkscrew form is clearly visible and the catkins add drama. The branches twist and turn so much that the tree hardly seem to grow in size at all. Ultimately (~20yrs) it may reach 2.5-4m in height and width.
Golden male catkins tumble straight down in wonderful contrast to its branches.
Unless they are blown horizontal, in 45 mph winds, as has been the case for the last week!
Hopefully some of the pollen will be shaken on to the tiny, red female flowers.
But it is the dancing male catkins that catch the eye
Frogend dweller's Blog 
What a beautiful specimen. That is a stiff wind!
It’s great isn’t it. Sadly it is not mine, but is at the end of the road … so I still get to enjoy it. I hate it when it is windy like it’s been recently. I find the noise unsettling, although walking in such weather is bracing and fun!
I’ve never heard of this one, but it’s quirky-lovely!
🙂
What a beautiful contorted hazelnut! I have one too but it’s much smaller. Used to be in a pot for many years. Only planted it in ground last year. Hope it will get as big and lovely as yours!
Here I must admit that the first shot is of a tree down the road, which is grown as a specimen tree. The rest of the photos are from ours,which doesn’t look as arresting because it is surrounded by other stuff. In fact we moved ours in a bit of a botched job when we built an extension some half a dozen years ago, but it is doing really well now. Yours will get there, but with all those twist and turns, it may take a bit!
They are wonderful trees, for their catkins, but also the nuts and useful rods after pruning. Do the contorted ones also produce nuts? Not straight rods, obviously 😆
Yes to the nuts, but not as many perhaps. We have a row of straight hazel too, but we never get to eat any nuts, because of squirrels queue jumping!
Great title, Allison! 👍 It was years before I noticed the female flowers on ours…!
Me too. Even when you know to look, they always seem to appear later than they should to get pollinated.