(Colic Weed, Pale Fumewort)

Native to rocky and sandy slopes and clearings over much of Canada and the northern United States, this biennial bears clusters of small bicolored flowers from early summer to fall above rosettes of lacy blue-green leaves. Deployed on erect, calf- to waist-high stems, the spurred, purplish-pink flowers have gaping yellow mouths. The blooms give rise to small pod-like capsules containing round shiny black seeds that are distributed by ants. Plants will self-sow where happy. Plants die at the end of...

(Fumewort)

More easily grown than many other Chinese Corydalis (including C. flexuosa), this hardy herbaceous perennial comes from relatively low altitudes in western Sichuan. Growing from a network of short clumping rhizomes, it forms dense clumps of ferny-leaved, calf-high stems topped by loose conical clusters of 5 to 13 pale bluish-purple to reddish-purple flowers with darker snouts. The two-lipped, long-tailed blooms appear from late spring into summer. In hot climates, plants...

(Berry Exciting Fumewort, Fumewort)

More easily grown than many other Chinese Corydalis (including C. flexuosa), C. shimienensis is a hardy herbaceous perennial from relatively low altitudes in western Sichuan. The cultivar 'Berry Exciting' is a showy-leaved sport of 'Blackberry Wine.' Growing from a network of short clumping rhizomes, its calf-high stems are furnished with elegant ferny foliage that is bright gold in spring and ages to lime-green in summer. From late spring to summer the...

(Blackberry Wine Fumewort, Fumewort)

More easily grown than many other Chinese Corydalis (including C. flexuosa), C. shimienensis is a hardy herbaceous perennial from relatively low altitudes in western Sichuan. The cultivar 'Blackberry Wine' features heat and sun tolerance and a spring to summer bounty of beautiful flowers. Growing from a network of short clumping rhizomes, it forms dense clumps of ferny-leaved, calf-high stems topped by loose conical clusters of 5 to 13 burgundy-purple...

(American Filbert, American Hazelnut)

American hazelnut is a tough, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub that produces crops of sweet, tasty hazelnuts in fall. It’s a wild and informal plant ideal for more naturalistic edible landscapes. Populations exist across much of eastern North America, save very southerly states like Florida and Texas. In the wild, they favor upland sites such as hillsides, elevated forests and old fields.

The oval leaves are medium to dark green, have coarsely toothed edges and are fuzzy on top and downy underneath....

(European Filbert, Filbert, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, Hazelnut)

Prized for its delicious hard-shelled nuts, European filbert is a small tree to large shrub that originates from the whole of Europe as well as western Asia. Wild plants exist in open woods and hedgerows where they grow in a wide range of soil types. Hazelnuts have been in cultivation for thousands of years and many cultivars exist--most bred to produce high quality nut crops. The woody, oblong nuts ripen in mid to late autumn and are eaten by wildlife as well as people. The European filbert is the...

(Common Filbert, Dwarf Redleaf Filbert)

Red filbert is an ornamental small tree with purple new foliage. By summer, its leaves turn mature bronze-green. This plant is generally monoecious, which means that single plants have separate male and female flowers. Its conspicuous male flowers, which are drooping yellow catkins, bloom in late winter to early spring, before its leaves emerge. Tiny yellow female flowers appear at the same time and later generate edible hazelnut fruits.

Plant red filbert in a fertile, well-drained soil in a full...

(Common Filbert, Contorted Filbert)

Commonly known as Harry Lauder's walking stick, contorted filbert has interesting twisted branches that are especially striking in winter. Attractive long yellow catkins are borne in late winter before the rounded, toothed leaves emerge.

Prized for its delicious hard-shelled nuts, European filbert is a small tree to large shrub that originates from the whole of Europe as well as western Asia. Wild plants exist in open woods and hedgerows where they grow in a wide range of soil types. Hazelnuts...

(Common Filbert, Purpleleaf Filbert)

Prized for its delicious hard-shelled nuts, European filbert is a small tree to large shrub that originates from the whole of Europe as well as western Asia. Wild plants exist in open woods and hedgerows where they grow in a wide range of soil types. Hazelnuts have been in cultivation for thousands of years and many cultivars exist--most bred to produce high quality nut crops. The woody, oblong nuts ripen in mid to late autumn and are eaten by wildlife as well as people. The European filbert is the...

(Common Filbert, Purpleleaf Contorted Filbert)

If you enjoy the four-season interest of Harry Lauder's walking stick ('Contorta'), 'Red Majestic' will give you amorous heart palpitations. Purpleleaf contorted filbert is an ornamental multi-stemmed shrub with vibrant foliage that is crinkled and purple when it first emerges, turns reddish purple in summer, and by fall transitions to glorious burgundy before falling away to reveal beautifully contorted branches. Its conspicuous male flowers, which are drooping purplish-burgundy catkins, bloom in...