Corylus

I have Corylus "Maxima Rote Zeller", "Ruby" and "Avellana".
Will they be good cross polinators together, or do I need another one for that?
I really would like to have some nuts this year. ('cause right now; I'm the only nut around here; the plant-nut! LOL)

Thank you, Christie

I haven't been able to find out whether those varieties are compatible. Most aren't too picky about pollinators, but there are some incompatibilities between different varieties, I know. Corylus (hazelnut, filbert) needs a lot of chilling hours, but you may be getting plenty of them -- there are parts of Australia and New Zealand with zones similar to yours that provide enough, whereas I'm in 8b yet do not get anywhere near enough (1200 suggested for some varieties: I get maybe 600 in a cold year). Also, when the catkins (male flowers) are dormant, a rise in temperature to above 70F can kill them so that there is no pollen for the coming season -- or so says an Australian site (http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/11246).

Good luck, and I hope that someone better informed than I am can give you better information.

1200 chilling hours?! NEVER overhere... This winter has been exeptionally cold, and still I'm guessing we had about 700 or so...
So, maybe I'll never have nuts to keep me company... :-)

They can get by with 800 chilling hours perhaps, according to what I've read. But they could be marginal for your area. I've been trying to find out if there are low-chill varieties that might do adequately here in the relatively cold north of the Florida peninsula, but so far with no luck.. Likewise for currants and lingonberries. I like pushing the envelope and I buy all sorts of oddities. Some of them do okay here, many don't.

I'd give them a few years, but you may simply need more chilling hours than you usually get. Again, here's hoping for more and better information.