Contorted Filbert

$229
Like any particular passion paired with aesthetic, there comes a point of experience when the bizarre and unique, the novel, holds a value separate from beauty, though without excluding it. The Contorted Filbert is a perfect example. A cultivar of the Filbert hazelnut tree, this weeping dwarf has branches that spiral and corkscrew and twist bizarrely. The first time I saw it I was certain it must have been trained elaborately, bound diligently, but no, this Seusian tree grows in its own in a fascinating labyrinth and hangs wrinkled, serrated green leaves. Extremely slow in growth, this tree will eventually mature to between 6 and 10 feet tall and wide. Prune any branches that don’t seem interesting enough, to let the weirder ones flourish and, as it’s grafted to a stock root, cut off any suckers that pop up.