While most plants look their best in bloom, in their fall foliage, or at least when fully leafed out, a few are most attractive with their leaves off.

Whether it’s bright color on the stems or just interesting branching habits that can be seen better in the dormant season, some plants reach their peak when naked.

The poster child of that is the shrub known as Harry Lauder’s walking stick ( Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’). This is a shrubby version of filbert grown mainly for its twisty, contorted branch structure.

However, summer leaves hide or at least downplay that interest. When Japanese beetles show up to eat Harry’s leaves in July and when heat or all-too-common fungal disease attack, the plants look horrid.

But when the plant finally has the good sense to shed its ratty leaves in

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