The dogwood tree is a popular ornamental tree that is available in a variety of shapes and colors. There are several different dogwood tree varieties, each with its own unique features. Some of the most common dogwood tree varieties include the redbud dogwood, Kousa dogwood, and flowering dogwood. Each of these trees has its own benefits and drawbacks, so it is important to choose the right one for your needs. Read on to learn more about the different types of dogwood trees available and find the perfect one for your landscape!
Dogwood Tree Varieties
White Flowering Dogwood
White Flowering Dogwood (Buy Online)
Dogwoods are perhaps the most beautiful of our North American native trees. With a sculptural branch structure and four seasons of interest, they grace landscapes throughout the United States.
Dogwood trees are prized for their pleasing shape, wonderful spring bloom, seasonal color, and wide range of adaptability across hardiness zones. And don’t let their delicate good looks fool you.
These flowering trees offer truly a splendid display. No wonder this is the state tree of both Missouri and Virginia!
The bracts are usually pure, snowy white, but a bloom can occasionally display a range of colors through pink and even red. Cherish this sophisticated ombre look from one of our beloved native trees.
Each season has a special feature that you’ll enjoy. You’ll love the stunning springtime blooms every year, and the distinctively curled, cool green leaves of summer.
Winter reveals the beautiful branch structure and exposes the textured bark to view. White Flowering Dogwood has horizontal growth on the lower half of the tree and upright branching on the top half. This unusual growth pattern produces a graceful, flowing shape and overall rounded crown which can be fully appreciated in the long months of winter.
Bud’s Yellow Dogwood
Bud’s Yellow Dogwood (Buy Online)
The bright yellow stems of Bud’s Yellow Dogwood, Cornus alba ‘Bud’s Yellow’, will add striking color to the winter landscape. It is an upright to a rounded shrub that displays small white flowers. It blooms in the spring and has attractive medium green foliage during the summer.
Bud’s Yellow Dogwood is best grown in organically rich, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun. This shrub prefers consistently moist, well-drained soils. Trim the roots and promptly remove root suckers if the further spread of the plant is not wanted. It is a rapid-growing, multi-stemmed, suckering, deciduous shrub that grows to a maximum size of 8 feet tall on erect, usually unbranched stems.
Plant them as property line screens, hedges or shrub borders. For an interesting bicolor winter stem display, combine with redtwig cultivars.
Silky Dogwood
Silky Dogwood is a deciduous shrub with ornamental features. You could effectively use these for hedgerows and windbreaks, or even as a specimen plant. One would look terrific at the back border of your garden, and they even work well for erosion control.
Your Silky Dogwood has attractive greenish-white flower clusters that appear in flat-topped, 2.5-inch clusters in the spring. The flowers mature to berry-like drupes that begin white but slowly transform to a lovely blue for the fall.
The fruit is eaten by game birds and is especially important as a source of food for migrating songbirds. The glossy, medium-green leaves are up to 5-inches long with noticeable veins and silky hairs on their undersides (thus this Dogwood’s name).
The brown twigs likewise have tiny hairs, with the twigs adding a reddish hue for autumn. After the leaves fall, the brown/red twigs stand out against the brilliant white snow, and present an important source of winter browse for deer and rabbits.
The Silky Dogwood will mature to 6-8 feet tall with an equal spread but can be trimmed to any size. It has no serious insect or disease issues and is relatively fast-growing. Silky Dogwood does particularly well in moist areas, so would be a great addition to your yard for those soggy areas that are difficult to find good plantings for.
Silky dogwood’s beautiful spring flowers, fall drupes, and lively bark color make it a charming addition for your home. Its fast-growing, hardy nature and suitability for even moist soils add even more benefit to this lovely ornamental shrub.
Red Osier Dogwood
Red Osier Dogwood (Buy Online)
For a fantastic four-season display that truly shines in winter, try the special native plant, Redosier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, formally Cornus stolonifera). This deciduous shrub features an upright form and carefree ease of maintenance. Young stems turn brilliant red starting in fall and bring a tremendous amount of winter interest.
Also known as the Redosier Dogwood and Red Twig Dogwood, it’s a solid choice for use in landscapes across a large part of the United States. Native to North America, Red Osier delivers a welcome splash of vibrant red color throughout the dull winter months.
Hardy in some of the more extreme climates, the beautiful red stem of this variety seems to be at its best in the coldest of fall and winters regions. Redosier is a real standout in the barren winter landscape.
It looks great all year long. From the magnificent winter color display, you’ll be thrilled to see local butterflies gathering nectar from the white, flat-topped clusters of tiny 4-petalled blooms in early spring.
With attractive, light green foliage, this plant is a perfect backdrop plant for the spring and summer garden. It grows fast and doesn’t require much care. You’ll be pleased how quickly it fills in to create a restful, living wall of green for your summertime activities.
Fall color deepens into burgundy purple. The flowers have developed into pretty berry-like drupes that start off purple when young and gradually turn into pure white berries. They are attractive, but you have to look fast, or hungry local songbirds will have snapped them all up!
And it’s after leaf drop in autumn that the electric red stems are revealed. The color remains all winter and contrasts beautifully against the winter snow.
Cardinal Red Osier Dogwood
Cardinal Red Osier Dogwood (Buy Online)
Cardinal Red Osier Dogwood is a deciduous shrub with ornamental stems and it is a unique and versatile plant that would look great in many locations.
Plant a few along your property line for an awesome border. Use one as a specimen planting anywhere you’d like a splash of brilliant color amid the drab hues of your winter yard.
Cardinal Red Dogwood’s outstanding feature is its bright red, winter twig color which will present a stunning contrast to your white winter snows. A bonus to its spectacular winter interest is the tiny white flowers that appear in flat-topped clusters in late spring.
The flowers give way to creamy white fruit in late summer that is very attractive to birds, and generally considered to have as much, if not more ornamental interest than the flowers.
As if that’s not enough, yet another bonus will be evident in the fall when your Cardinal Red Dogwood’s dark green leaves turn an attractive red-purple.
Cardinal Red Dogwood grows to about 10 feet high with an equal spread. It is widely adaptable to soil and moisture variations and will even do well in swampy or boggy conditions Its rounded form will present a pretty picture in your landscape, even without its added features.
The Cardinal Red Dogwood is a hybrid Dogwood that was developed by the University of Minnesota in 1986. It was an NC-7 Trials top-performing plant and received the 2004 Plant of Merit
Yellow Twig Dogwood
Yellow Twig Dogwood (Buy Online)
Especially in a small space garden, you need to get the most out of every plant choice. Look for versatile plants that bring interest in winter, spring, summer and fall.
Dynamic Yellow Twig Dogwood is a deciduous shrub with bright, ornamental twigs. They make simply outstanding individual accent shrubs, hedges, and as a backdrop for a Butterfly Garden.
Yellow Twig Dogwood features two-inch floral clusters, composed of tiny, white flowers. They appear mostly in spring, but you’ll enjoy recurrent blooming on new wood into summer.
Beneficial pollinators adore these easy sources of nectar. The wide blooms make for an easy landing. Once there, butterflies have hundreds of nectar-rich flowers to sip from.
Yellow Twig Dogwood has a nice form. The look is lush and densely branched.
Four-inch, dark green leaves fill out the shrub through summer.
The foliage mellows to a mahogany red for fall. At the same time, showy white berries appear to feed songbirds.
Striking winter twig color is the real reason why people buy these plants from our expert growers.
Once the leaves drop for winter, the twigs make a dramatic shift from green to bright yellow. Enjoy that bold, ornamental color against the browns and greys of winter.
Use them just about anywhere in your landscape. Yellow Twig Dogwood puts on a dazzling display in all seasons.
It’s tolerant of a variety of soil conditions including occasionally wet soils. Once the well-behaved roots are established in your yard, it will tolerate periodic drought, as well.
Kousa Dogwood
If you love Flowering Dogwoods, you’ll adore the late-blooming Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa). It’s a wonderfully showy small tree that blooms weeks later than other Dogwoods. The blooms range from pure white to delicate light pink and they last and last.
Kousa slowly grows into a lovely, small deciduous tree. It is sometimes called the Japanese, Korean, or Chinese Dogwood. And like other trees that are native to Japan, they showcase an extremely graceful form.
Kousa Dogwood has a horizontal branching structure that reaches all the way to the base, forming a natural pyramidal shape.
This tree would look stunning planted in small groupings along a mixed border. It creates a marvelous focal point in a backyard, or as an anchor for a foundation planting.
Dark green leaves will appear in early spring, but the real show starts in late spring. Pointed, 4-petaled white bracts surround the small flower clusters. These specialized leaf bracts are quite rugged and can withstand strong winds and rain.
Kousa Dogwoods are very showy for a long period of time as the flower bracts are showy longer than most flowers. They’ll give you up to a month of display!
The flowers precede the red fruit, which looks like a raspberry. Some people make jellies, jams, and wine from the round red berries.
Or, leave the red-colored fruit for birds! They’ll be happy to snap them up for you without any fuss or muss.
As fall approaches, Kousa Dogwood has another trick up its sleeve. The leaves transform into a vibrant reddish-purple splash of fall color for your landscape.
In winter, the bark on older trees exfoliates to reveal a beautifully patterned texture. This is a great feature in the coldest months. Use exterior landscape lighting to point a spotlight or two up into the canopy. You’ll enjoy this tree year-round.
This particular Dogwood has a better disease tolerance than many other flowering Dogwoods and is generally hardy and easy to care for.
Deer won’t like this tree, but birds certainly will… and so will you! Order today.
Allemans Compact Dogwood
Allemans Compact Dogwood (Buy Online)
Alleman’s Compact Dogwood, Cornus sericea ‘Alleman’s Compact’, is a four-season beauty with white blossoms in May, pleasant green foliage in summer, giving way to bright red berries in fall, and finally an outstanding red twig color for winter.
This dogwood is a suckering, colonizing deciduous shrub that grows to 5 feet tall and wide. The branching is upright and spreading with most stems branching a little, except near the tip where the shape is rounded. Alleman’s Compact Dogwood’s leaves emerge yellow-green and mature to medium or dark green.
This shrub is tolerant of poorly-drained soils, easily transplanted and established, and enjoys full sun. It is suggested that you remove the oldest stems each year to promote suckering since new stems have the best stem color.
It is good for borders, mass plantings, wet soil sites, naturalistic areas, and winter ornamental appeal. You do not get the greatest effect if used individually. This is a hardy, disease-free shrub that will attract wildlife.
Arctic Fire® Dogwood
Arctic Fire® Dogwood (Buy Online)
Every landscape needs a blaze of color in those long, cold days of winter. Now, even if you have a small landscape, you can grow a special variety of Redosier Dogwood. Arctic Fire® Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera ‘Farrow’ PP#18523) is a Proven Winners® selection that is a true dwarf of this beloved native shrub.
Because this superior cultivar stays smaller than the species, you can use it throughout your landscape. And who doesn’t love the amazing bright red young stems peeking up out of a white cap of snow?
Arctic Fire® Dogwood is a winter gem. The cut stems are highly desirable because of the deep, dark red stem color during the winter dormancy period. Cut stems can be used to great effect in urns and pots outdoors for winter and holiday decorations. They can also be cut and used indoors for winter and holiday decor. These classics, natural decorations are always in style.
Pretty white springtime flower clusters develop on last year’s stems. They bring butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. Try them in cut flower arrangements indoors, adding a branch or two to your bouquet.
These native shrubs are very versatile. They can be planted in full sun or part shade. They tolerate just about any soil, including areas that stay damp. Try them in those challenging wet areas and watch them thrive.
Attractive, dark green foliage looks great all season long. The white flowers develop into small white berries. You might not see them, as the local songbirds love to eat the berries. They will take just as soon as they ripen.
As the leaves turn and fall in autumn, you (and the neighbors!) will start to notice the bright red stems that are left behind. The beautiful, dramatic color of the cut stems is extremely popular for winter decorations.
Isanti Dogwood
Looking for a standout multi-stemmed deciduous shrub to naturalize, or use as a property line screen? With a plethora of ornamental features, Isanti Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Isanti’) delivers year-round appeal.
You’ll enjoy lively red bare stems all winter long. Grow your own bright to have plenty of cut material for gorgeous seasonal outdoor containers.
Even when not showing off its winter brilliance, Isanti Dogwood knows how to shine. This shrub has several admirable features throughout the growing season, too.
A single specimen Isanti Dogwood will turn heads. Several of them can be planted in a hedge that grows into a total show-stopper!
Petite, white flowers form in clusters on Isanti in spring. You’ll see butterflies galore, and the blooms keep coming on the new wood into summer.
All summer, enjoy attractive four-inch, dark green leaves. Isanti Dogwood is dense and well-branched, and the foliage remains lush all the way to the ground.
Enjoy an excellent display of fall color. As the nights get longer, the large leaves burnish into a deep red.
Birds come to visit and take the ornamental fall fruit, as well. Spring flowers develop into showy white drupes that have a slight blue overcast.
Isanti Dogwood is a fast-growing, multi-stemmed shrub. It stays more compact than other varieties.
It’s tolerant of a variety of soils and doesn’t mind boggy conditions that stay moist. Go ahead and use them throughout your landscape in either sun or partial shade.
Choose to let it grow into its natural shape, which is absolutely beautiful. However, if you want to keep it more manicured, it’s tolerant of pruning for shape.
Enjoy these generally hardy shrubs for decades. They’ll require little or no care from you.
This tough little shrub has it all. Flower and fruit, vibrant green summer foliage, and bright fall color. You’ll even get amazing winter interest!
Bailey Red Twigged Dogwood
Bailey Red Twigged Dogwood (Buy Online)
If you need an amazing, tall hedge quickly, you’ll want to be sure to study this incredible variety of the native Redosier Dogwood. With flame-red winter stems, Bailey Red Twigged Dogwood (Cornus sericea Baileyi’) is a popular choice to add winter interest to your landscape. You’ll appreciate its good looks in spring, summer, and fall, as well.
This fast-growing shrub reaches its mature height and spread in just a few short years. Bailey takes very little care, just a few pruning cuts in early spring.
You can grow it in full sun for the brightest red stems in winter. Or, use it to fill in a shady spot for a more mellow display.
This was an early introduction of the popular native Redosier Dogwood, which grows throughout North America. Realizing the significance of this plant in the landscape, growers and hybridists set out to find the best consistency in colorful stems, profusion of flowers, and rapid growth.
Bailey really delivers a more compact and less spreading form than the native Redosier. This plant has amazing winter appeal.
It is perfect for a shady spot, near a tree line or on the north side of a house. It will also do equally well in full sun as a hedge or in a group.
Even though its main attraction is its winter appeal, this lively Dogwood has a lot to offer year-round. Clusters of flat-topped, milky-white flowers appear in spring and bring butterflies to your landscape.
Soothing green foliage fills out the plant from top to bottom in spring and summer. You’ll love the lush privacy!
In late summer, porcelain-blue berries develop into pure, white fruit.
For fall color, the leaves darken into the deep, delicious shade of Cabernet wine. But you know that it’s after the leaves drop is when the real show starts.
Brightest in full sun, the young stems glow an amazing fire-engine red. It looks fantastic against the white, winter snow. The bold, red bark on the Bailey Red Twigged Dogwood makes winter a lot less dreary.
Ivory Halo Dogwood
Ivory Halo Dogwood (Buy Online)
The Dogwood ‘Ivory Halo’ (Cornus alba ‘Bailhalo’) also known as Tatarian dogwood, is a spectacular cultivar that brings something beautiful to look at all year round. No matter what time of year you see an Ivory Halo dogwood, it’s a show stopper. From the large, variegated leaves edged in white in summer, to the bright red twigs in winter – this shrub is a wonderful ornamental to add to any landscape.
Hands down, the variegated leaves of the Ivory Halo Dogwood are simply incredible. The leaf color is the reason this deciduous shrub is so popular. People crave cool tones in the heat of summer, and this crisp, clean variety certainly delivers.
In spring and summer, the light green leaves literally twinkle as they flash in the sun. Because they are edged in refreshing, creamy white – they’ll easily brighten up your landscape, while remaining fresh and cool looking.
Next, large groups of white flowers develop at the branch tips and are held in huge, flat-topped clusters. The flowers also bring butterflies to your landscape to bring texture and motion to your garden. You will see flowers on and off all throughout the growing season.
In the fall, showy, cool white berries develop. These berries are highly ornamental and jazz up the late-season look of your landscape. In terms of taste, you and I wouldn’t be interested in eating them, but your local songbirds will appreciate them as an excellent food source. The cool-toned berries are as pretty as the flowers!
In the fall, the pretty leaves you’ve loved all season turn a brilliant reddish purplish. Ivory Halo Dogwood delivers wonderful color to your fall landscape.
But it’s in winter the shrub truly shines. Ivory Halo Dogwood develops intensely red stems during winter. These brilliant red winter stems are particularly showy against a snowy backdrop.
Everyone loves to cut the red stems to use for fall and winter decoration in pots and urns at your front entrance or patio mixed with some Holly or evergreen branches. The red stems are highly ornamental, especially against the snow in the colder areas.
First Editions® Firedance™ Dogwood
First Editions® Firedance™ Dogwood (Buy Online)
First Editions® Firedance Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Bailadeline’) is a smaller, more compact garden shrub that meets the needs of urban gardeners.
Colorful Firedance Dogwood has plenty of ornamental features to keep you interested every season of every year. Firedance Dogwood definitely brings the “wow” factor…and then some!
In spring, basil-green leaves make a perfect backdrop for the tender multitude of exquisite, clustered white flowers that cover the tips of the branches. These flowers are followed by pretty white berries which bring the neighborhood songbirds to your garden to sing in the summer.
With cool fall temperatures, the leaves turn to a rich reddish-purple in a riotous mix. If you plant these with chartreuse or yellow-leaved shrubs, you’re in for a spectacular fall show to enjoy with your family and friends.
With Firedance Dogwood, you’ll even get to enjoy a special blaze of winter interest. After the leaves fall, young twigs and stems turn a bright red to heat up the winter landscape.
People grow showy Firedance Dogwood hedges just to have twigs to harvest for Holiday floral arrangements! Plan to cut several of the thickest, oldest stems to the ground in late fall.
Don’t worry about these versatile, durable shrubs…they are cold-hardy all the way up into Canada. Their roots tolerate being wet but can handle periodically dry soils, too.
Prairie Fire Dogwood
Prairie Fire Dogwood (Buy Online)
If you’re on the hunt for a beautiful shrub to add color and structure to your landscape, you are in luck! Prairie Fire Dogwood (Cornus alba Prairie Fire’) features outstanding four-season color and winter interest.
Prairie Fire Dogwood performs an exciting color show all through the growing season. New spring leaves are ablaze with golden-yellow color. The leaf color gradually ages into an eye-catching chartreuse mix of bright green and gold. In fall, the foliage burst into flaming hues of bright red and orange for your autumn landscape.
No wonder this deciduous shrub is in high demand! We sell out every year.
Even the leaves themselves are noteworthy. Prairie Fire Dogwood has delightfully pointy leaves that add an interesting texture to its lovely, rounded form.
We all know you want this shrub for its winter display after the leaves fall. It brings five-alarm winter interest to your landscape.
Tomato-orange winter branches are extremely showy. They are sure to brighten up your drab, off-season landscape!
Imagine those fluorescent-colored stems poking out of the snowbank during the winter months! Prairie Fire really offers quite a show in all seasons. The plants are quite adaptable to just about any landscape.
Use several for a colorful hedge along your driveway, one as an accent in your front yard, or in mass plantings in a naturalized area. Prairie Fire Dogwood is as versatile as it is colorful.
You aren’t the only one who will fall in love with this shrub. In late spring, clusters of creamy white flowers appear at the ends of the branches which bring butterflies to your yard. The blooms will gradually mature into tiny white summertime berries that are loved by songbirds.
Prairie Fire Dogwood is a multi-stemmed shrub. It features a dense branch structure that provides a fair bit of screening, even in winter when the leaves have fallen. Everyone will be looking at that bold winter color, anyway!
You’ll appreciate the low-maintenance, carefree attitude of this hardy shrub. Long, thick branches can be pruned to the ground in early winter. Be sure to include these bright stems in your Holiday decorations!
When a shrub offers this much interest in all four seasons, even small yards can afford the space required to grow one or two. Use Prairie Fire Dogwood for a beautiful sense of privacy, and to hide the utilitarian areas of your yard. Try one in a low spot that seems to stay damp after a rainstorm.
Kelsey’s Dwarf Dogwood
Kelsey’s Dwarf Dogwood (Buy Online)
Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Kelseyi’) isn’t a tree. Instead, this great little dogwood is a low-growing shrub that nicely fills in as a groundcover.
Like its bigger cousins, Kelsey Dwarf blooms in the spring, but only small clusters of white flowers. These quickly turn to small berries that the birds will happily pick clean for you.
The lush green leaves quickly cover the shrub making a nice 2′ to 3′ rounded plant. Grow several together and you’ll have a low, thick mat of green all summer.
Where the Kelsey Dwarf really shines, though, is in winter. Once the leave have turned yellow and fallen off the bush, you are left with dramatic red twigs that fire up your landscape. These are especially attractive when you have multiples planted side by side.
Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood is one of a handful of shrubs that actually prefers moist to wet soil, so use it in those challenging wet areas in your yard. As long as it gets adequate sunlight it is very easy to grow and rarely needs pruning. You can use it in small spaces, as an accent plant, as a low-growing hedge, or as a container plant, too.
Ragin’ Red™ Dogwood
Ragin’ Red™ Dogwood (Buy Online)
Are you looking for a small, colorful tree with a little bit of an attitude? Meet Ragin’ Redâ„¢ Dogwood (Cornus florida ‘JN13’ PP29424). It has the darkest red flowers available on the market.
This is an incredible, ultra-modern cultivar of a native tree. Ragin’ Red features dark red color in both flower and foliage.
These vigorous small trees provide four seasons of interest. It is showy enough for sophisticated, high-end properties.
But Ragin’ Red Dogwood also looks absolutely great next to a condo, cottage, bungalow, or free-standing shed. It looks good anywhere you plant it, but the color will be bolder if the tree receives plenty of sun.
You’ve seen white and pink Dogwood trees. Well, this variety has screamin’ purple-red bracts surrounding the tiny true flowers.
In spring, you’ll be knocked out how the bare branches suddenly burst into a stunning floral display. The color display remains extremely showy for weeks.
Let the neighborhood get jealous!
As the spring bloom fades, brilliant red new growth comes on. The foliage emerges bright red, giving you another welcome blast of color to your landscape.
Summertime comes, and the leaves turn dark green with a red overcast. Enjoy these fine-textured trees, and they’ll cast dappled shade over your hammock chair and cooler stand.
The fireworks really start to heat up in the fall. The burnished, deep burgundy color comes back to spark up the leaves. Blaze orange, deep red, and mellow purple join in to give you a big finale in early fall.
What an epic way to end the growing season!
Cherokee Princess Dogwood
Cherokee Princess Dogwood (Buy Online)
Make way, for you are now in the presence of royalty. The Cherokee Princess Dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Princess’) will effortlessly take your breath away with its immaculate features.
This shrub will be well-deservingly known as the crown jewel of your landscaping.
In the spring, Cherokee Princess Dogwood will sparkle like the jewel on a crown from its pure, white flowers before the bronzy foliage that emerges and ages to green.
In autumn, the foliage turns into a reddish-purple coloration that will make your jaw-drop, and don’t forget about that excellent red fruit!
This shrub will sparkle fashionably next to your patio or porch making your house look like the royal palace.
This tree leaves you with illuminating coloration throughout all four seasons, so treat yourself every day by planting this shrub in a visible spot where you can soak in its beauty every day.
You won’t be the only one raving about the Cherokee Princess Dogwood, you will be impressed by the crowd of butterflies that this shrub attracts.
Treat your shrub like the princess she is by planting in full sun with rich, well-drained soil. The Cherokee Princess Dogwood grows up to 30 feet tall and wide when planted properly.
Muskingum Dogwood
Muskingum Dogwood (Buy Online)
Leverage the gorgeous ornamental attributes of Muskingum® Dogwood (Cornus racemosa ‘Muszam’) to improve your property. Why struggle with trouble spots or boring bare areas?
This is a shorter, spreading cultivar of a native shrub called Gray Dogwood. You’ll love the beautiful qualities of this selection all year round!
Like other Dogwood shrubs, Muskingum Dogwood has smooth, reddish bark. As the springtime leaves unfurl, they also display a red hue.
It doesn’t take long for the delicate flower clusters to cover the branch tips. You’ll lose track of how many butterfly species come to visit these lightly fragrant, creamy flowers!
Muskingum Dogwood truly is a resource plant for pollinators and songbirds. It’s also a rugged shrub that controls erosion and covers ground to suppress weeds.
It looks refreshing and cool all summer with gray-green foliage. This widely adaptable choice thrives across most of the United States…and puts up with some tough environmental challenges, too.
Fall is an especially pretty season of interest; as the leaves burnish into a glamorous dark red. The spring blooms have developed into a generous display of showy white berries that are relished by birds.
First Editions® Cayenne Dogwood
First Editions® Cayenne Dogwood (Buy Online)
Talk about hot and spicy! First Editions Plants has introduced a new and exciting type of dogwood to the market, First Editions® Cayenne Dogwood (Cornus amomum ‘Cayenne’). This tasty shrub is an update on an American classic.
Dogwoods are well-loved American trees and shrubs. You can count on them for reliable color year in and year out. They are super hardy native plants that thrive without much care all over the country.
Springtime brings fresh green leaves and beautiful white flowers, followed by a summer of thick green foliage and porcelain blue berries. Then in the fall after the orange-red leaves drop you are left with a winter of fire-red stems! These stand out against the greys and browns of winter like red-hot pokers.
This tall and wide shrub loves moist areas and is perfect for wetland mitigation. Try them in big masses for a show-stopping winter effect. They are great specimen plants in small gardens, too.
First Editions® Neon Burst™ Dogwood
First Editions® Neon Burst™ Dogwood (Buy Online)
First Editions® Neon Burst Dogwood (Cornus alba ‘ByBoughen’ PP 27,956), is highly desired for its full sun tolerance and that it looks great all season long. Electric-yellow foliage color really stands out in the landscape.
In spring and summer, those shockingly yellow leaves can age to a chartreuse color as the season progresses. It is an excellent, natural hedge plant that looks best without any pruning. How about repeating this plant across a perennial border or in a mid-range shrub border? Neon Burst also looks great used singly as a specimen plant or to anchor a corner of a structure.
Creamy-white flowers are born on the new growth in May. Although not overly showy, they make great fillers in cut flower arrangements not only because of the flowers but because of the beautiful showy yellow foliage.
The winter stem color is a deep, shiny-red color. They look great in the landscape too. Neon Burst Dogwood plants also add great color when used as snow fencing.
Neon Burst Dogwood has an upright, spreading habit when young, and ages more rounded. Remember pruning your Neon Burst Dogwood is best done by removing the oldest stems out to the ground level, and not necessary to do much other pruning.
The color of Neon Burst continues in the fall where the leaves burst into orange-yellow, red, and even purple and put on quite a show. Each season this plant shines. Spring and summer show off their great, sunny leaf color, fall brings on a myriad of leaf colors, and winter is when the beautiful red stems get to shine.
Purple Haze Kousa Dogwood
Purple Haze Kousa Dogwood (Buy Online)
European Variegated Dogwood
European Variegated Dogwood (Buy Online)
Are you starting a new landscape design from scratch, or trying to fit one more shrub into a lavish garden? You’ll want to select easy-care plants like European Variegated Dogwood (Cornus alba ‘Argenteo-marginata’). It will provide visual interest in every season and works well in the small home garden.
Fast-growing and adaptable, gray-green leaves emerge with an outstanding variegation that stays vibrant and interesting all summer long. Each leaf is touched with wide, creamy-white leaf margins that bleed into the center.
The overall look is very light and bright. You’ll be enchanted with the cream and green foliage of this showy shrub.
Clusters of white flowers develop into tiny berries in fall. You’ll attract butterflies and birds with European Variegated Dogwood.
In fall, the foliage can warm up with mellow, sunset hues, depending on the amount of sun it receives. Pink, purple and red is sometimes seen all on the same shrub. The interior leaves can turn harvest gold.
It’s a fantastic fall color display. Don’t miss out!
Wintertime has its own appeal. If you live in an area with snowy winters, you need to include European Variegated Dogwood. The red stems are phenomenal against the snow in winter.
People in cold regions also love using them for winter decorations in pots and urns. Try them mixed with Holly and evergreen branches for dormant season displays.
They are easy to grow and establish. Give them a simple yearly pruning to thin out some branches for decor. Your plant should look healthy and last for decades in your landscape.
Garden Glow Dogwood
Garden Glow Dogwood (Buy Online)
Garden Glow Dogwood, Cornus hesseyii ‘Garden Glow’, is a deciduous shrub with ornamental features. It would look amazing planted en masse in a location where some winter color would be valued. You could also plant several as a hedge along your property line or just one for a little splash of color in your front yard.
Your Garden Glow Dogwood has so much to offer! Its oval leaves, with their delightfully-pointed appearance, maintain a golden/green hue all summer long. Spring brings clusters of petite, white flowers that transition to small, white berries in summer.
When autumn arrives, your Garden Glow’s foliage will turn a spectacular red, with the twigs maintaining a brilliant scarlet throughout winter. No matter the season, this fabulous Dogwood is sure to please.
Garden Glow Dogwood is a multi-stemmed shrub, with an upright and spreading growth habit. Garden Glow Dogwood is adaptable to a variety of conditions and is urban tolerant. You can prune it as desired, but it’s also lovely just as it is and in fact, is considered a low-maintenance shrub. Garden Glow Dogwood is even fast-growing so you won’t have to wait long to see results.
Silver and Gold Dogwood
Silver and Gold Dogwood (Buy Online)
Silver & Gold Dogwood, Cornus sericea ‘Silver & Gold’, is a Yellow Twig Dogwood cultivar that is primarily grown for its bold variegated foliage and its yellow winter stems. Its silvery green leaves are variegated with irregular creamy white margins. This ‘Silver and Gold’ Dogwood has leaves that turn yellow in autumn. The stems turn bright yellow in winter and are particularly showy against a snowy backdrop.
This is a suckering shrub that will happily colonize a bare patch or quickly cover an eyesore.
Tiny, white flowers appear in flat-topped clusters in late spring, with sparse, intermittent, additional flowering sometimes continuing into summer. Flowers give way to clusters of whitish drupes in late summer. Its fruit is quite attractive to birds.
Best grown in organically rich, medium to wet soils in full sun to part shade. Silver and Gold is tolerant of a wide range of soils, including swampy or boggy conditions.
Elegantissima Dogwood
Elegantissima Dogwood (Buy Online)
Elgantissima Dogwood is an ornamental shrub with 4-season color and special winter appeal. Plant several for a flashy winter border, or even just one would be lovely as a specimen planting in your yard. It’s a perfect addition to your yard for bringing a little color to the drab off-season.
Your Elegantissima Dogwood will bring year-round interest to your landscape but is especially handsome in winter when its stems transform to a brilliant, bright red.
Spring brings petite, white flowers that are deliciously fragrant. Adorable berries follow, becoming visible in June, their white hue accented with hints of blue and green. Your Elegantissima Dogwood’s gray-green leaves are broadly margined with cream or white for a showy variegated presentation that is lovely spring through fall.
As if all this isn’t enough, the show continues in fall with leaf colors consisting of apricot, gold, and a pleasing rosy-red.
Elgantissima Dogwood will maintain an elegant, upright habit. Plants that are not pruned eventually reach ten feet tall with an equal spread. Elgantissima adapts well to many different situations and soil types.
Red Gnome Dogwood
Red Gnome Dogwood (Buy Online)
Extremely resilient and adaptable the Dogwood Red Gnome is ideal for a broad variety of landscaping uses. Versatility makes this densely-branched shrub an excellent choice for diverse garden plans, from linear, careful designs to focal, impact planting.
Red Gnome is a lightly textured foliage option that maintains a fairly round shape, creating an excellent point of contrast against other shrubs in your garden.
Grown in a row to edge a yard or in a layered bank of greenery, these compact and low-growing shrubs create natural boundaries of color that vary from season to season. Clusters of white flowers at the tips of the stems in spring turn to white berries in summer.
Summer dark green foliage begins to deepen to showy burgundy in fall. Winter, Dogwood Red Gnome’s dormant season, surprises with stems of deep red that stand out in the landscape. Four seasons of color make the Dogwood Red Gnome a standout for your garden!
Arctic Sun® Dogwood
Arctic Sun® Dogwood (Buy Online)
The Dogwood Arctic Sun® (‘Cato’, Cornus sanguinea ‘Cato’ PP19892,) is a new dwarf, yellow twig Dogwood. It is extremely compact, with yellow foliage which adds instant impact to any garden. ‘Cato’ should be planted in full sun and will adapt to extremely wet conditions.
Great for erosion control, it is highly recommended for rehabilitating moist sites and is well adapted to disturbed sites, is easy to grow and establish.
In the garden, it will add more color because of its multiple stems. This plant provides year-round interest with the leaf color, flowers, fall color, and winter appearance. It is also deer resistant.
Pagoda Dogwood
Pagoda Dogwood (‘Cornus alternifolia’) is a perfect fit for a small yard. Use it as a large ornamental shrub, or limb up the lowest branches and use it as a small tree. You’ll adore the lovely tiered horizontal branches that catch and sculpt winter snowfall.
But, honestly, this tree shines all year long. Those graceful branches resemble Japanese pagodas in the landscape. The silhouette of this tree makes a wonderful statement throughout the winter months.
Young bark is smooth, and a warm mahogany-red. Textured older bark is gray-brown and displays light ridges and furrows. Even non-viable twigs are pretty, as they slowly turn a bright yellow before dropping off.
In spring, the branches are laden with fragrant flowers that are flat-topped. These showy clusters make the perfect landing pad for neighborhood pollinators. The fresh spring foliage is a wonderful contrast to the pale blooms.
How many butterflies will come to visit your yard? You’ll be amazed!
Summertime leaves age into a rich, dark green for the season. They are deeply ribbed and add fabulous texture and shade at the height of the growing season.
As the season continues, the foliage ages into a burnished color similar to mulled burgundy wine. The flowers mature into attractive blue-black fruit in the late summer. These treats are for local songbirds, who relish the nutrient-rich, easy snack.
Each fruit sits atop a very attractive stalk that boasts a pleasing coral-red color into the late winter. This is a highly ornamental plant that provides visual interest in every season and stage.
Pucker Up!® Dogwood
Pucker Up!® Dogwood (Buy Online)
It wasn’t that long ago that every garden in America wanted a dogwood. These native shrubs were easy to care for and had those classic flowers that everyone “in the know” had to have. (When the daughter of the famous department store magnate had her home on the cover of that famous magazine, it was dogwood branches in the vase on the grand piano, in case you were wondering. After that, no socialite worth her silver spoon would be caught dead without several dogwoods available in the garden for floral design.)
So, yes, the flowers are beautiful. Even the twigs are beautiful. But the leaves…well…they were just foliage.
Until now.
Let us introduce you to the newest star in the world of dogwood shrubs – Pucker Up!® Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera ‘Neil Z’ PP#24812). This gorgeous plant has leaves that are so elegant and textured that they look almost like they were hand-stitched by master quilt-makers. The flowers are pretty, but the leaves will stop you in your tracks!
This new take on an American native is so easy to care for. It handles just about any soil – even wet ones – and thrives in partial shade. It rarely needs pruning to maintain its sexy shape and it also looks good in the winter when its bare branches blush red.
Use it in mass plantings along the foundation of your porch, in a naturalistic garden bordering the property line, or as a stand-out specimen in a pot by the patio. Plant multiples so that you can cut the branches and bring them inside for very “of-the-moment” decorating.
Cloud 9 Dogwood
The Dogwood, Cloud 9 (Cornus florida ‘Cloud 9’) is a strong grower with light-green foliage and provides distinctive, large overlapping petal-like blooms. These showy, white star-like flowers appear in early spring.
It has dark green foliage in the summer, and spectacular scarlet red leaves in the fall with glossy red berries that persist into winter. These fruits are also a favorite of many birds as well as squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons.
Cloud 9 is perfect along the wood’s edge, in combination with Azaleas and Rhododendrons, or as a small, specimen lawn tree.
You’ll want to plant this tree in an area that you can easily admire every day. Start every day walking on cloud nine!
This amazing Dogwood will add value to your home’s landscape with its attractive flowers that add spring color, and its great compact shape that fits into any landscape.
Add this attractive flowering tree to your garden for some major curb appeal! Every passerby will stop to admire your tree.
Dogwood, Cloud 9 prefers rich, deep, well-drained soil and is not recommended for heavy, wet soils. Dogwoods are somewhat susceptible to drought, so be sure that sufficient water is provided during dry periods. Grow in full sun to part shade.
Scarlet Fire® Rutgers Japanese Dogwood
Scarlet Fire® Rutgers Japanese Dogwood (Buy Online)
No more of the same old same old! Scarlet Fire® Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Rutpink’) will be sure to illuminate your landscaping in the late spring and early summer.
Most Dogwoods are a soft, pastel pink coloration, but this one profusely blooms a deep fuchsia-pink color that is to die for.
In the fall you will be mesmerized by the burgundy-red foliage that will make you completely fall in love time and time again. The beauty continues into the late summer with its crimson-red fruit that appears strawberry-like.
Need an impressive pop in your landscaping, then you have come to the right place. The colors absolutely shine in mass planting, which will draw anyone and everyone to your garden.
All you’ll be able to say is “wow” after seeing this magnificent beauty as an ornamental plant with the growth of 20 feet tall and a 20-foot spread.
Plant your Scarlet Fire Dogwood in full sun to partial shade with well-drained soil to see your plant grow tall and proud. No need to worry about anything harming its beauty, because this plant is incredibly disease resistant.
Venus® Dogwood
The Venus Dogwood (Cornus x ‘KN30-8′) has many of the best traits gardeners adore. And guess what it got it from its momma (and poppa), the Cornus kousa x Cornus nuttallii hybrid and Cornus kousa. It is a small ornamental that offers three seasons’ worth of beauty.
The first thing you will notice about the Venus Dogwood is the way it blooms. You will get a profusion of massive white blossoms in late spring–from a distance, The Venus will almost look like the branches are covered with snow. These fluffy white blooms will attract bees and butterflies from near and far, as well as many varieties of birds.
In addition to the blossoms, the Venus Dogwood produces a small berry that could be mistaken for a raspberry. While you can eat them, you will want to save them for hungry birds. You will enjoy the pinkish-red color of the fruit, and your feathered friends will thank you for the treatment that you provided for them.
Your Venus Dogwood will grow into a nice rounded canopied tree, with deep green foliage in the spring and summer, and brilliant ruby-red leaves in the fall. You can use yours as a privacy screen or set it apart from your other trees and use it as a focal point. It winters better than most varieties, and it is highly resistant to diseases that plague other dogwoods.
When it is time to plant your Venus Dogwood, you need to find a spot with full sun to partial shade, along with rich, slightly acidic, soils that are well-drained. If your soil isn’t rich, you can add composted material and mulch.
Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood
Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood (Buy Online)
The Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Willoway Select’) is a popular variety that can be used in a number of ways around your yard.
Once it starts to bloom, don’t be surprised if neighbors keep stopping by to ask what variety you planted. If you want to keep it secret, we understand. This tree does offer a wondrous sight that may make you a bit selfish.
In the late spring, your Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood will be cloaked in delicate white blossoms that will attract pollinators from near and far. The blooms from this variety won’t disappear overnight either. The Willoway Select maintains its blooms for up to a month, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy its snow-white stage.
The Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood produces a small berry that resembles a raspberry in size and color, and while not the reason most gardeners buy a dogwood, they are edible, but at least they give you many hours of relaxing birdwatching.
The Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood is a narrower, more upright variety, that you can use as an anchor or specimen tree to add romance to your landscape your yard.
White in the spring, dark green in the summer, and a delicious mix of reds in the fall. Add to this the wildlife that it will attract, and you have a wonderful addition to your yard.
Your Willoway Select Kousa Dogwood will enjoy a spot that has full sun to partial shade. It loves organically rich, slightly acidic soil, that is moist but not wet, so water it regularly, but do not overwater. If your soil lacks plant matter, feel free to add compost, this will help provide nutrients as well as improve drainage.
Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood
Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood (Buy Online)
Picture a tree with its branches covered with the first snowfall. That is what your Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Snow Tower’) will look like in late spring. Add beautiful foliage in the summer and fall, and shaggy, textured bark in the winter, and you get a Dogwood tree you can enjoy all year long.
The Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood blooms a little later in the spring than most varieties, extending the Dogwood blooming season. You’ll be amazed at the bountiful blooms that are white, can be up to inches across, and completely cover your tree.
You will also be astounded at the number of butterflies and other pollinators that come to visit this beautiful tree. And it won’t be just a few days of flowers. Your tree will hold its blooms for up to a month.
While not grown for its fruit, the Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood comes with the added benefit of edible fruit. Some people make jam or wine from the small, raspberry-like fruit. But beware, many species of birds find them delectable as well, and you might have to share them with your feathered friends.
The Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood will grow into a small tree, tight and upright in nature. Its foliage is dark green in the summer, turning to a reddish-purple in the fall. The defoliating bark is visible in the winter after the leaves fall creating additional visual interest.
You can use this variety as a focal point in your yard or as a screen or hedge. It is winter hardy and disease resistant as well.
You will want to find a spot that has full sun to partial shade for your Snow Tower Kousa Dogwood. Remember that it likes rich, slightly acidic soil. Water it regularly, but do not overwater.
Samaritan® Japanese Dogwood
Samaritan® Japanese Dogwood (Buy Online)
Year-round you will be blessed with immaculate beauty and grace from the one and only Samaritan Japanese Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Samzam’).
In the late spring, you will be showered with star-shaped white flowers that cascade on top of the light green and white variegated leaves that will jazz up your whole landscaping.
In the fall you will be incredibly blown away by the ornamental features that stand out in the fall. The pointy foliage fades into a captivating pink coloration that will catch you off guard with its beauty.
Can it get any better? Sure enough, it does with the cutest red berries that resemble strawberries, and are showy late summer into fall.
If you’re needing a “wow factor” in your landscaping, then you have all you’ll need right in front of you with the Samaritan Japanese Dogwood.
This plant is a magnificent specimen plant, as it had no problem at all being the center of attention. You will want to have this tree in plain sight for the whole town to fall in love with!
Samaritan Japanese Dogwood grows to be 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide with an elegant low canopy when planted in rich, well-drained soil and full sun.
Radiant Rose™ Chinese Dogwood
Radiant Rose™ Chinese Dogwood (Buy Online)
Get your sunglasses out because the Radiant Rose Chinese Dogwood (Cornus kousa chinensis ‘Hanros’) shines brighter than ever.
The spots in your garden that you feel are looked over, will no longer have that problem with the illuminating bright pink flowers that pop on top of its glossy, dark green foliage.
In the fall, you will be in complete awe of the stunning red-purple foliage that effortlessly stands out and adds vibrant dark colors to the fall colors in your landscaping.
Planting your Radiant Rose Chinese Dogwood in plain sight by itself as a specimen plant is no issue for this looker. Everyone will want to stop and admire its beauty.
Use this shrub in your landscaping to eliminate the dull boring spots in your garden and fill them with charm and color. Planting this shrub into the mix of your garden will give your garden the needed depth and fullness.
This tree grows to be about 20 feet tall with a spread of 20 feet when planted properly in full sun to partial shade with well-drained soil.
Galilean® Chinese Dogwood
Galilean® Chinese Dogwood (Buy Online)
If you’re looking for a plant to completely turn your garden around, you are in the right place. The Galilean Chinese Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Galzam’) will be the breath of fresh air you’ve been looking for.
Attractive, large, pointy, dark green leaves with a cascade of showy white flowers that profusely bloom in the spring are all people will be talking about.
To add to its ornamental attractiveness, the cutest red berries appear in the early to mid-fall adding a little splash of color into the tree.
Galilean Chinese Dogwood has an incredible multi-stemmed trunk that adds quite the accent to your landscaping. This tree is naturally beautiful and will make your garden look full getting rid of all the dull spots.
Planting as an ornamental tree is ideal as the confident branches will catch people’s attention without even trying. People will want to stop to admire your fascinating shrub.
Galilean Chinese Dogwood grows to be 25 feet tall with 20 feet spread, making it a beautiful decorative shade tree. Plant next to your go-to relaxing spot and this tree will make you forget about all your worries.
Elizabeth Lustgarten Weeping Kousa Dogwood
Elizabeth Lustgarten Weeping Kousa Dogwood (Buy Online)
The Elizabeth Lustgarten Weeping Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’) is definitely a tree that you’ll want in your landscape!
This weeping dogwood would look great anywhere you want to plant it! Use it as an accent tree in your garden, plant it in a woodland garden, or just plant it on its own! The possibilities are endless with this weeping tree!
An unusual rounded form, with casually arching branches that cascade with nodding tips for a fantastic look.
Its thick, dark green foliage makes a good backdrop for its snow-white blossoms. Its edible fruit makes it a bird magnet and in the fall its green foliage turns red, orange, and/or yellow! This tree will spark interest all year round!
The Elizabeth Lustgarten Weeping Kousa Dogwood tree prefers slightly acidic, well-drained soil and full sun or partially shaded area. This allows for optimal growth and ensures that the tree will be healthy and well-structured.
While this dogwood prefers partial shade, it will tolerate partial to full sun. But a thick layer of mulch should be placed at the base year-round to keep the soil moist. Deep irrigation is also recommended for full sun environments
Firebird™ Flowering Dogwood
Firebird™ Flowering Dogwood (Buy Online)
Firebird Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Fircomz’) has an enchanting array of colors of white, pink, red, and green throughout its incredible foliage.
Not to mention the cute white and pink flowers that bloom beautifully in the mix with its colorful foliage in the spring.
In the cool fall weather, your shrub will surprise you with ruby-red fruits in the mix of its plum-purple and fluorescent pink foliage.
You’re going to want to make this shrub the centerpiece of your landscaping and it will work its magic attracting everyone’s attention.
Even the local pollinators will be buzzing in an overwhelming amount of excitement.
Give this marvelous bush the attention it deserves by planting in full sun to partial shade with rich, well-drained soil to allow it to grow to its full potential of 30 feet tall and wide.
Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood
Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood (Buy Online)
The Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Willoway Variegata 2’) will have a special spot in your yard and heart.
Unlike most varieties, it has bi-color variegated leaves which add to its striking appearance. With four seasons of exciting and lux leaves, the Willoway Variegata 2 will be a welcomed addition to your yard.
Every spring your Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood will become smothered in creamy white blossoms and will turn heads for weeks. As they open, they will attract bees and butterflies that help pollinate your other flowering plants throughout your yard.
After the blooms fade, you will find small reddish berries. These berries are a favorite of a number of birds so break out the binoculars and your birding list and get ready to enter the names of the species that visit your yard for a snack.
Your Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood is a small variety that will enhance the beauty of your yard, even if you don’t have excessive space. It will start with the beautiful spring bloom followed by the variegated foliage of summer, vanilla white on a green background. Then in the fall, they will turn into a spectacular maroon. In addition, this variety has uniquely tiered branches that give it a stunning appearance.
Like most varieties, Willoway Variegata 2 Dogwood likes full sun but will do well in partial shade. Give it a home in rich, well-drained soil, and it will thank you with spectacular foliage from spring to autumn
Red Pygmy® Dogwood
Red Pygmy® Dogwood (Buy Online)
Looking for a very special small accent tree for your patio or courtyard? The colorful good looks of Red Pygmy® Dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Rutnut’) make a very charming choice.
Like its larger cousin, Red Pygmy Dogwood features graceful branches and a sweetly evocative form. But this natural dwarf stays pint-sized, and the color is deeply enhanced.
This petite tree has such showy blooms in the early spring. Held on bare branches, the “flowers” are actually four flower bracts that surround a little button of true flowers.
You’ll never tire of the color play between clear red, pink-red, and rose-pink. Each bloom is different and truly stands out.
Every bract is spotlit by a white tip at the very center of the notched end. These outstanding spring bracts look like they were custom-designed!
They’ll decorate your landscape with style each spring. You’ll have plenty of butterflies, as well. They love the early nectar resource.
But it’s not only beautiful in the spring. In the summertime, fine-textured, glossy, dark green foliage becomes a fetching robe for the lovely, upright branches.
Another colorful display happens in fall when the leaves brighten into an intensely rusty orange-red. The leaves are punctuated with bright red fruits that are relished by your local songbirds.
Your guests will be drawn to these cunning little trees! Use them as a “Thriller” in large outdoor containers for years and years.
Little Poncho Dogwood
Little Poncho Dogwood (Buy Online)
Gorgeous Little Poncho Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Little Poncho’) features a charming form, with branches that spread wide in horizontal tiers. Whether you have limited garden space, or live large on an acreage or more you want a plant that gives you multiple seasons of interest.
Little Poncho delivers big in all seasons. When the branches are covered with creamy white blooms for springtime, you’ll swear it looks like a living Wedding Cake.
The sophisticated blooms last a long time. Because they are held above the new leaves on top of the branches, Little Poncho’s flowers are extraordinarily showy; with four-pointed bracts surrounding the olivine orb of tiny true flowers in the center.
You’ll see a variety of butterfly visitors to your yard. They really appreciate the flat bracts (much easier to land on!) and the valuable early nectar resource.
Cut a few of the flowering branches for a very special indoor arrangement. Why not add several Little Ponchos to your yard so you have plenty to enjoy on your tablescapes each year?
In early summer, the pointed, glossy leaves come out. They’ll wear a dark green cloak for you all season. The branches start low on the canopy and serve double duty as a beautiful privacy screen.
In fall, it treats you to a vivid color display of multi-hued scarlet red foliage. The trees are decorated with raspberry-red fruits. Look fast to see them, they’ll be eaten quickly by hungry songbirds.
The wildlife value of these petite plants can’t be understated. Make yourself happy, and thrill your local pollinators and bird populations with this choice.
Even in winter, the pretty textured gray bark and the lovely form add visual interest. Watch as light snowfall is caught and sculpted by the tiered branches.
Grow these versatile trees in full sun or partial shade or in the ground. They work well in large outdoor containers, too. These Kousa Dogwood trees become a wonderful “Thriller” to please you and your guests for many years to come.
National Kousa Dogwood
National Kousa Dogwood (Buy Online)
Rejoice in the new growing season with this lively choice! National Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘National’) is one of the earliest Dogwoods to start blooming each year.
Custom-fit these upright white flowering trees to your landscape with a bit of strategic pruning. Graceful National Kousa flowering Dogwood works to elevate the tone of your landscape all year.
Give them a high-profile location. You’ll want to study the exquisite rounded, creamy-white bracts that float above the branches and give National’s flowering such a unique look.
Snip a few small branches for clean, spare indoor flower arrangements. Accept all the compliments on your effortlessly elegant tablescape.
There will be plenty of tiny, light green, true blooms left over to provide valuable nectar. Dogwoods are magnets for butterflies and helpful pollinators.
Add one if space is limited…or include several in a wonderfully naturalistic grouping on larger properties. National Kousa Dogwood easily anchors a lawn planting.
There is perhaps no better tree to reflect at the far end of a pond. Rippling water only adds to the beauty of these trees with their textured gray bark and drooping, dark green leaves.
Gorgeous National Kousa Dogwood gives you multiple seasons of interest. Run a series of these deciduous trees as a large-scale screen at your property line or along your driveway for a fantastic garden feature.
As nighttime temperatures dip in fall, the pointed leaves turn a pretty mix of crimson, burgundy, and fiery bright red for superior fall color. Look closely for the red raspberry-shaped berries before local songbirds take them for a nutrient-rich snack.
Even in winter, the bare branches and vase-shaped habit deliver an outstanding architectural accent. Uplight your National Kousa with exterior lighting to make the most of this structural specimen.
Audubon® Roughleaf Dogwood
Audubon® Roughleaf Dogwood (Buy Online)
The National Audubon Society presents a new line of native plants that helps birds and wildlife thrive in your area! Including the Audubon® Roughleaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii), or Rough-leaved, is noted for its textured green foliage, blooms, and white berries for three seasons of beauty within the landscape!
Flowering in May-June, the yellowish-white clusters of flowers are borne on long stalks. The showy clusters comprised of tiny flowers provide nectar for pollinators. Beneficial caterpillar Host Plants for the Azure butterfly and more, nesting birds feed on the larvae and feed their hungry chicks.
Fall invites backyard birds to feast on the white fruit clusters. Even migrating birds will make a pit stop. Once winter arrives, you’ll be treated to the textured gray-brown bark with shallow grooves and plates, while revealing the canopy. You choose if your ornamental becomes a shrub or spreading tree with pruning!
Audubon® Gray Dogwood
Audubon® Gray Dogwood (Buy Online)
The National Audubon Society presents a new line of native trees that helps birds and wildlife thrive in your area! The Audubon® Gray Dogwood (Cornus foemina (racemosa)) features red stems, white blooms, and berries, plus lovely gray branches! A deciduous Ornamental shrub or multi-trunked tree with just a bit of pruning.
The late spring flowers appear as clusters of white blossoms that later transition to beautiful white fruit. Each pearly white berry is supported by red stems and is especially attractive in the winter months after the fruit is gone and the red stems remain.
The handsome lance-shaped foliage turns burgundy-purple in fall then drops to reveal the unique bark color! It’s amazing in the snow and frost! Giving you and your landscape four seasons of beauty!
Audubon® Swamp Dogwood
Audubon® Swamp Dogwood (Buy Online)
The National Audubon Society presents a new line of native plants and trees that helps birds and wildlife thrive in your area! The Audubon® Swamp Dogwood (Cornus amomum subsp. obliqua), also known as Pale Dogwood, features green leaves that appear in pairs and purplish-brown young shoots for a verdant garden addition!
All summer, you and your pollinators will enjoy the white blossoms, quickly followed by great fall color and a generous crop of beautiful blue berries! Growing upright, with a looser growth habit and multiple stems creates an open and rounded appearance. Perfect for use in poorly drained sites for preventing lake and stream bank erosion and for more alkaline sites.
While the berries are highly beneficial to songbirds, your insect-eating birds will find plenty on the menu as well! A host plant for a wide variety of caterpillars and other tasty bugs that feed on its foliage, birds that are feeding hungry chicks will be frequent visitors!
