Harry Lauder's Walking Stick

If you're looking for a plant to add interest to your landscape in the winter, you can't do much better than Corylus 'Contorta.'  This interesting shrub takes its unusual common name, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, from the crooked cane that the legendary Scottish entertainer, Sir Harry Lauder, often used as a performance prop in the early 1900's.  It's a well-deserved moniker, as the Contorta produces some of the most interestingly twisted, corkscrew-like branches of any shrub I've ever seen.  It is an interesting and unusual shrub when it's wearing its leaves in the warm months whose berries are very attractive to birds, but it really comes into its own when it sheds the leaves in the cool part of the year, and those pig's-tail branches are unveiled.  The Contorta looks its best when featured as a specimen, especially when its silhouette is contrasted strongly by a backdrop of snow.  It's a good thing, then, that this unusual shrub is cold-hardy all the way to Zone 3, where the snow is plentiful and the need for winter landscape interest is greatest.  This shrub is a quick-grower, too, that will generally reach a height of around seven feet tall. 

Comments

[Susan]

These are amazing plants! We've just acquired an established one.

Any advice on best ways to root trees from the stock or branches of existing tree?

Thanks