(Spike Winterhazel)

The picturesque branches of spike winterhazel produce hundreds of pendent, fragrant yellow blossoms in spring. This open, lightly spreading deciduous shrub is native to Japan. It is quite slow-growing but reaches a substantial size when mature.

A profusion of short, drooping clusters with six to twelve fragrant, yellow blossoms appear in spring before the leaves appear. Each bloom has conspicuous pollen-carrying anthers of reddish purple. Deep blue-green oval leaves with a purplish cast emerge...

(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...

(Common Filbert, Purpleleaf Filbert)

Purpleleaf filbert is an ornamental shrub to small tree with reddened foliage hailing from Europe and nearby Turkey. 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 purpleleaf filbert in a fertile, well-drained...

(Common Filbert, Redleaf 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...

(Chinese Filbert, Chinese Hazel)

A walk into the highlands of China may reveal a rare glimpse of the Chinese filbert, which is a plant species vulnerable to extinction in the wild. Native to the moist woodlands of south-central China and into Tibet, this partially deciduous tree retains low branches and may sucker from its trunk. To maintain a classic tree silhouette, prune away suckers to reveal the mottled, fissured bark of the trunk. With old age, the bark pales to gray or white.

In spring, when foliage is emerging or fully...