Contorted Filbert (Red Majestic) (Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic')

As soon as I saw the red leafed upright filbert, Rotezellar, I have been happily anticipating a red leafed contorted filbert, and it is here. The red leaves don’t last into mid summer, but it is totally worth it to have the early crimson color and of course the catkins are pink in the late winter. The only drawback is that we are still having to graft the tree so there will be some suckering, but it is not onerous if you just do it once a year. After all regular Harry Lauder’s walking stick was grafted for decades until somebody finally started layering them fairly recently.