8. Corkscrew hazel

Hazel catkins

It's catkin time. Yellow hazel catkins against a blue sky are, to me, pure joy. The first ones are just coming out, and soon they will clothe the many hazels around the Gardens.

Having spotted some catkins near the entrance I set out to walk to the old woodland and look for more, but ended up walking only five yards and found myself staring at our corkscrew hazel just outside the Visitor Centre.

Corkscrew hazel is a completely mad plant. Unlike most sensible trees whose branches grow relatively straight, or perhaps in gentle curves, the branches of corkscrew hazel spiral, loop, turn and double-back on themselves.

I bought this tree as a baby plant in 2003 because it made me laugh. We were creating the Celtic gardens at the time and the tree looked the way the process felt - it took all sorts of unexpected twists and turns, going this way and that way and sometimes even going backwards, but overall there was progress, a reaching towards the sun. Planting the corkscrew hazel and watching it grow reassured me that we would get there in the end.

Corkscrew hazel

In Celtic mythology hazel is the tree of wisdom, so maybe there is wisdom in the madness.