PlantFiles: Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Dogwood
Cornus florida

I bought a 1 year old seedling, at a yard sale, from a lady on Long Island, who grew many dogwoods from a tree in her yard, and then sold them at the yard sale for $3. Now mine is well over my head due to pruning, but has not bloomed yet - Maybe next year.

*****UPDATE to post April 20th, 2012*****
****Just to give an update to my original post below, my tree has gone from 3 blooms last year (after which I used the below method through the summer and winter non-stop) and this year the tree has 40-50 blooms approx., and more may pop out yet as it's still april and they haven't even begun to open yet. So I think it's safe to say that things are working well. I will update the final count after all have bloomed******

****Original post below*****

For people having trouble with the plant read below, and your issues will likely vanish.

I planted a dogwood sapling in Toronto, Ontario Canada last year (it had one bloom at the nursery, I wanted the least established plant to give the tree a better chance to grow into its new home). It concerned me at times because it always seemed to be struggling a little and looking like it wasn't getting something (water, nutirents, pH). It had inconistant leaf health, some looked fine, some had browning tips with a hint of red. I also noticed alot of photos online shared these issues.

Since the plants around it were doing just fine I ruled out water and nutrients,and I did some more research, and lo and behold it needed an acidic (low pH) soil.... BUT..I did not then run off to follow some of the online advice about acidifying my soil using aluminum sulfate or some other such chemical soil additive. Instead I continued to research. Surely these people were missing something basic here, no plant should require a chemical factory to live. They've been doing fine on their own for years...so what's the key???

Now if you read about this tree you will discover that one of its greatest assets is that it provides a great fruit in the late summer for birds...I thought about this for a second and then it clicked.... This bird/tree relationship wasn't accidental. Birds weren't parasitic scavengers of this tree's fruit. The tree has, in effect, evolved to LURE birds to eat it's fruit. Now, one could argue that this fruit lure evolved as a way to spread the seeds...but evolution has found other ways to spread seeds, wind usually being the answer...

So why the strong connection with birds???

Well the asnwer is two words:

BIRD POOP

Yes that's right...what my tree was lacking was a nice constant supply of BIRD POOP which is a very, very acidic and nutrient loaded substance that this tree LOVES. So since my tree was a sapling and hadn't attracted any birds (being in downtown toronto birds can be reluctant to fly down to lower trees) I strarted spreading a handful of quality no-waste bird seed around the base of the tree, and now I have frequent and regular vistors, working tirelessly to turn my seed into an acid/fertilizer cornucopia. The leaf issues have now begun to vanish and my tree is starting to look radiant. The birds are quite happy with the situation as well, and will be even happier when the fruit of their labour pays off and they get their bonus treat later on.

So, I just came on here to tell anyone who has problems with this tree (leaf problems, brown tips) it is likely because of your soil not being acidic enough. DO NOT go and dump a bunch of chemicals that will possibly damage your plant and put you into an endless cycle of pH checking and chemical dumping. :) Just put a bird feeder under your lowest branch and let NATURE do it for you. Not only will your tree be filled with playing, happy, singing birds, you will never have to worry about your soil pH again. And your tree will look gorgeous.

Hope this helps anyone with a dogwood, and please pass this on.

I'm in the Hudson Valley and planted a flowering dogwood about 4 -5 years ago. But, it has never flowered. I planted it at the edge of a wooded area with a tree canopy that provides dappled shade. Has anyone had similar experiences? Is there anything I can do? I love dogwoods and would love to see the tree flower each year. Seeking advice.

Sadly, we lost our beautiful white dogwood this year after the rough winter we had in New Jersey-3 snow storms with almost a foot each time. We've lived in our house for 11 years and I believe this dogwood had been there for years before that. I loved watching it bloom each Spring from several of our windows. This wasn't the only we lost this year-each one breaks my heart! I'd definitely get another one!!!!!

We have several Dogwoods on our property - natives and Rutgers hybrids and, as others have noted, blooms on all were sparse this year which I must assume was weather related. Usually they are a beautiful welcome to spring.

Some mention should be made of the blight that is currently decimating large populations of this species.

(seehttp://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/dogwoodanthracn... )

The anthracnose fungus has taken a number of trees on my property, and I have noticed a decrease of the tree in the wild.

Our dogwoods did not bloom nearly as much as the previous years. We had a three large snowfalls (each over a foot of snow) was that the reason why the blooms were so sparse this year. Too wet?

We have grown both white and pink dogwoods here in Tallahassee, Florida, Zone 8b, for the past 25 years. White dogwoods are indigenous to the area and will self-seed. When we planted the pink dogwoods we were told we were too far South for the pinks to bloom reliably, but they have done so every year. The nursery we originally bought them from said that these pink varieties had come from Pensacola, which is about 200 miles west. We would like to plant more pink dogwoods but they are not now available for sale in this area. Anyone know of a vendor in the area?

I LIVE NR PARIS FRANCE AND SPENT FORTUNE ON A YOUNG TREE ABOUT 2 1/2 FT TALL; IT IS NEITHER DEAD NOR ALIVE! IT SEEMED LAST YR (its 1st full yr here) to slowly deteriorate; it lost most leaves and certainly has never bloomed. it is planted in an island in the lawn in full sun with other plantings beneath. shall i rip it out as it is in a prime location or is there another solution? thanks! lisa.dormousehouse@gmail.com

My Dogwood has always flowered beautifully every year. This year however I had a total of three flowers on the tree. Was it the harsh winter we had or did the squirrels eat the buds? The comment below caught my eye, I see it was not just my tree that this happened to.

Do dogwood trees bllom every year? Ours has very few this year, and has bloomed plentifully in the past? Can anybody enlighten me?
We are in Wilmington, DE, which I think ought to be a good zone for this tree.

We have three of the white-flowering variety on our property, and they are everywhere around this area (a lot of mature hardwoods around to shade them). Ours flower proliferously, and leaves are very drought tolerant...but that could be due to the fact that they are so well-established here.

So many people make the mistake of planting this tree in full sun, where it always looks scorched. This is one that must have part shade to look it's best.

Flowering Dogwood is a native understory tree in Virginia, & in fact is the State flower.

My farm & the surrounding woodlands fairly explode with the white blossoms in springtime, & the contrast with the also-native Redbuds, which are still blooming around the same time, is spectacular.

As far as cultivated types, I picked up a Pink Flowering Dogwood this past spring during Home Depot's Mother's Day sale (for only $20!!!), & planted it over the grave of my beloved blue Doberman. A solid 5' tall & planted in our lovely red clay soil, with weekly watering when necessary, it did very well, & is covered with buds awaiting this coming spring. Depending on how this one ultimately performs, I may be picking up more come this Mother's Day for a few other select spots around the yard.

This tree ia a marvelous companion for Azaleas.

This is no doubt a beautiful flowering tree, however a note should be made in regards to its reported hardiness. The species is listed as hardy to USDA zone 5. And indeed, it can tolerate the minimum winter temp. of a zone 5. It does, however, require a fairly long warm summer season to ripen the wood properly before winter sets in. For gardeners in a coastal, summer-cool zone 5 (for example Newfoundland, Nova Scotia) this dogwood does very poorly, suffering from severe die-back in winter. For such gardeners, it is better to grow Cornus kousa which is more adapted to cooler summer temps.

New comment coming soon

Ours has been grown for ten or more years and has had great results. This year, the blooms are down to thirty or so; about 1/4 of what has been the routine of the past. Here in Maryland we had a normal Winter season. Other then a lack of blooms this year, the tree is beautiful and a nice border plant to the end corner of the house.

A beautiful understory tree that lines the edges of our forests here in the South. Their blooms add interest to the pale greens of spring and are quite welcome after a long winter.

They are found in the wild in our area and the hillsides are quite beautiful when a small grove is happened upon.

I live at the southernmost range in central Florida. Only the white variety of Cornus florida will bloom this far south. If we have no frost, flowering will be poor, but it is worth growing.

Just wanted to mention that if you have a big old dead dogwood, it makes fantastic firewood. That is some consolation, at least.

We have several mature dogwoods lining our driveway. They provide wonderful flowers each spring, nice shade all summer, beautiful foliage and berries in the fall (although the berries don't last long - each year, a flock of birds descend on the trees and strip the berries in a matter of minutes!)

Grow in average, medium wet, well-drained soil in sun to part shade. Prefers organically rich, acidic soils in part shade. Benefits from a 4-6" mulch which will help keep roots cool and moist in summer.

This is a small tree, up to 30 feet in height and 35 feet across, but the typical size is more like 15' tall and 15-20' across. It has a short trunk and a full, rounded crown with horizontal branches often in layered tiers, spreading wider than its height.

The bark on mature trees is broken up into small square blocks. Flowering dogwood has opposite, deciduous midgreen leaves, 3-6" long, which turn red and purple in autumn. Flowering dogwood blooms in the spring, as its new leaves are unfolding, and usually remains showy for 2-3 weeks. The bloom consists of four showy petal-like bracts, usually snow white or pink, surrounding a cluster of tiny yellowish flowers. The bracts are 1-2" long and obovate in shape, usually with a cleft at the tip.

Clusters of bright red football shaped fruits, about a half inch long, follow the flowers and often last into winter. The birds love the berries. Hummingbirds seem to like to stay in it also they make a trip around the yard and always end back up in the Dogwood tree.