PlantFiles: Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Dogwood
Cornus florida

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.

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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.