{"id":91,"date":"2008-05-05T05:01:20","date_gmt":"2008-05-05T13:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=91"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:24","slug":"dogwoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/dogwoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogwoods"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOGWOODS<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A friend of mine just got married.\u00a0 He is a relative newcomer to this immediate area and loves our spring-flowering trees, especially the dogwoods.\u00a0 A few weeks ago he called me to ask whether I thought the dogwoods would be in bloom for his rehearsal dinner on May first.\u00a0 Like all good gardeners I hedged.\u00a0 After all, so much at this time of year depends on the weather.\u00a0 The day my friend called, the dogwoods in his front yard were sporting small flower buds.\u00a0 If the temperature had spiked up and stayed there, those buds would have developed rapidly and opened early.\u00a0 The flowery show might have been over by now.\u00a0 Fortunately for the bridegroom, the weather stayed relatively cool, the dogwoods took their time, and the trees were at their high point on the evening of the wedding rehearsal.\u00a0 I think that the “old wives”\u009d who are responsible for all of those old wives’ tales would agree that this bodes well for the marriage.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

I love all dogwoods for their simplicity and three-season appeal.\u00a0 Spring blooms give way to dense, glossy green leaves.\u00a0 In the fall, the berry-like fruits most often turn bright red.\u00a0 The leaves also redden and, depending on the variety, take on a darker russet or burgundy shade.\u00a0 The dogwood “flower”\u009d is actually four bracts or leaves surrounding the tiny central flowers.\u00a0 Those bracts, which most of us would refer to as “petals”\u009d, can be white or various shades of pink.\u00a0 There are also Cornus species with yellow bracts<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Plant taxonomists have been busy with dogwoods.\u00a0 Until very recently all the dogwoods in the world were part of the genus Cornus.\u00a0 Now some taxonomists place many of our native North American dogwoods in a new genus, Swida.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What does all this mean to the home gardener?\u00a0 Absolutely nothing.\u00a0 Most people, including those in the nursery trade, still classify dogwoods as Cornus, refer to them by their common names and appreciate the beauty that these small trees and shrubs bring yards and gardens.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

My favorite dogwood is Cornus florida or Eastern dogwood, which is native to the eastern and central United States.\u00a0 Over the past couple of decades, plantsmen have worked with C. florida to select strains that are resistant to anthracnose, a fungal disease that has devastated both wild and cultivated dogwood populations.\u00a0 They have also bred strains with variations in flower and leaf color, flower size and overall stature.\u00a0 In the universe of the Eastern dogwood, it’s hard to make a bad choice.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With so many people into container or small space gardening, it is nice to know that those gardeners don’t need to forego Cornus florida because of space considerations.\u00a0 The ‘Pygmaea’ variety is a true dwarf, growing only four to six feet high at maturity, with delicate white flowers and the usual red fall fruits and foliage.\u00a0 In places where horizontal space is at a premium, ‘Dixie Colonade’, which also has white flowers, is a perfect fit.\u00a0 It has all the virtues of its wider-crowned relatives, plus a trim silhouette.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are those of us who can’t get enough of double-flowered plants.\u00a0 If you fall into that group, choose C. florida ‘Alba Plena’, a relatively unusual variety that has white, double-bracted flowers and wonderful fall color.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Like the late Victorians, modern gardeners seem to crave variegated foliage.\u00a0 Dogwoods, like ‘Cherokee Daybreak’, ‘Cherokee Sunset’ and ‘Golden Nugget’ all sport bi- or even tri-colored leaves.\u00a0 The two ‘Cherokee’ varieties have pink or rose bracts, while\u00a0 ‘Golden Nugget’s’ blooms are white.\u00a0The ‘Welchii’ or ‘Tricolor’ variety also has white flowers, green leaves marked with white and pink, and fall foliage that is almost burgundy.\u00a0 ‘Tricolor ‘flourishes in light shade.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The size of my garden being what it is, I should probably stick to the dwarf dogwood.\u00a0 However, I am a sucker for pink flowers, so I might find a way to squeeze in ‘Rubra Group Selection’, which is noted for its floriferous nature and rose-colored bracts.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Eastern dogwood, sometimes also known as the American dogwood, is the state flower of \u00a0\u00a0North Carolina and Virginia and the state tree of Missouri and Virginia.\u00a0 The sweet, simple blossoms have long been loved by artists, including the designer of the set of lovely old china that my bridegroom friend borrowed for his rehearsal dinner.\u00a0 The painted dogwood blossoms on the plates and cups were a perfect match for the flowering branches outside his house.\u00a0 Sometimes disparate elements like weather, trees and dishes come together to make something that is really special.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most retail nurseries stock Cornus florida varieties.\u00a0 For a wider selection try Forestfarm, 990 Tetherow Rd., Williams, OR 97544-9599, (541) 846-7269 or <\/font><\/font>www.forestfarm.com<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 Greer Gardens also has an excellent selection, and can be found at 1280 Goodpasture Island Road, Eugene, OR \u00a097401, (800) 548-0111 or www.greergardens.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Both companies offer free catalogs to US residents.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOGWOODS \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A friend of mine just got married.\u00a0 He is a relative newcomer to this immediate area and loves our spring-flowering trees, especially the dogwoods.\u00a0 A few weeks ago he called me to ask whether I thought the dogwoods would be in bloom for his rehearsal dinner on May first.\u00a0 Like all good gardeners … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1689,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/1689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}