There are numerous members of the popular genus Cornus, from herbaceous groundcovers to stoloniferous shrubs to small trees. Several of these small sized tree varieties provide wonderful year-round return for your garden.

Cornus florida, the Eastern Dogwood, slightly finicky though it may be, is well worth the extra effort necessary to give it a good start. In the spring they produce exquisite 4-petaled bracts that can be as large as 5". Colors range from bright white, soft pink, rose pink to deep rose-red. The luscious summer foliage provides a graceful, fresh appearance to the woodland or cottage garden. The fall leaf color is fantastic, usually pink to electric red. The tiny red fruits appear in the fall as 1/2" scarlet berries that are attractive to birds. In the winter, the graceful bare branches provide a delicate silhouette, softly filtering the light. Branch tips swell with the button-like floral buds, hinting at the display just around the corner. The size range (20-25 feet tall and wide in cultivation) makes it a superb choice for the smaller landscape.

Cornus ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ is a cross between the Eastern Dogwood and our California native Cornus Nuttalii, the Pacific Dogwood. Lankier and larger and somewhat more drooping in habit, this dogwood can reach as much as 40' in height and about 20' in width, though not likely in cultivation. The huge white bracts are a dramatic display in the late spring, and the fall color is dramatic.

Cornus kousa, from the mountain woods of Japan, blooms later in the spring than the Eastern dogwood and has leaves and bracts that are longer and more pointed at the tips. The bracts are creamy-white with a chartreuse green glow, occasionally edged in pink. Great fall color, from yellow to red. Reddish, knobby berry-like fruit. The growth habit of this Japanese Dogwood tends to be multi-trunked and shrubby with wide, spreading branches, to 20' tall and 20-25' wide.

In planting your dogwood, it is important that you choose your site carefully. In their natural habitat they are understory trees, receiving dappled sunlight through surrounding branches. In the East Bay a sunny spot for most of the day is good but protection in the summer from hot afternoon sun is crucial. In hotter climates provide more filtered shade from noon on. Dig a planting hole double the size of your pot and amend with slightly acid fir mulch. Avoid a wet site and in our native clay soils I recommend planting high in a slight mound so that as the soil settles the crown of the tree rests slightly above grade. Mulch with organic matter up to 4" from the crown of the tree and water in well. Dogwoods should be watered deeply at least every 10 days and during dry spells at least once a week. Fertilize in the spring with a balanced fertilizer. These dogwoods naturally grow with delightful symmetry and require little or no pruning.

You will be rewarded every season with beauty when you grow a dogwood.

–Heidi