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Cornus florida
Because the state tree of Missouri, the flowering dogwood means lots to me.
I’m a long-time resident of the “Present-Me” state, and I can say with confidence that this decorative tree is unquestionably value displaying.
Beautiful leaves, stunning blooms, and an enchanting type all mix to make Cornus florida a sight to behold, irrespective of the time of yr.
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This unhealthy boy isn’t the trickiest plant to care for, both.
Positive, you’ll need to be additional vigilant to make sure that it doesn’t turn into sick or infested with pests. However so long as a flowering dogwood is saved wholesome, being its plant father or mother is easy crusing.
In fact, correct cultivation takes some specialised data… which is why we put collectively this rising information for you!
After studying it, you’ll have the know-how wanted to develop and take care of some really superior bushes.
Right here’s a fast preview of every little thing this information will educate you:
What Are Flowering Dogwoods?
Hardy in USDA Zones 5 to 9, the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is native to the jap half of Mexico and the USA, and southeastern Canada.
It’s a member of the Cornaceae household and the Cornus genus – each of that are basically synonymous with dogwoods.
The frequent time period “flowering dogwood” may additionally be used to confer with different dogwood bushes that put out beautiful flowerlike leaf bracts, such because the kousa dogwood and pagoda dogwood.
However in the case of stunning blooms, C. florida is the champ.
With a mature top of 15 to 35 toes and a width of 15 to 40 toes on the cover, this understory tree has higher branches that develop upright, whereas the decrease branches unfold out extra horizontally.
This creates an attention-grabbing layered impact that emphasizes the branching behavior, fairly than the trunk.
The plant’s grey, scaly bark that some would possibly examine to alligator pores and skin peels simply, but the wooden beneath is robust and sturdy.
The genus title Cornus – from the Latin “cornu” that means “arduous” – is a nod to the wooden’s toughness.
The foliage is oppositely organized and every leaf is oval-shaped, narrowing to a pointed finish. Alternating veins originate from the midrib and meet on the tip of every leaf. The undersides of the leaves are pale, and the margins are barely wavy.
Colour-wise, the leaves emerge in shades of bronze-green to yellow-green in spring, mature to a darkish inexperienced in summer season, and rework to disclose crimson to reddish-purple hues come autumn.
This plant is definitely one of many first deciduous bushes within the panorama to showcase its fall colours, which persist till the leaves drop in early winter.
The flowers are what actually set C. florida aside from different panorama bushes. It’s proper there in each the frequent title and the Latin species title florida, that means “flowery” or “in bloom.”
However this does include a notable technicality: just like poinsettias or bougainvillea, the precise flowers aren’t the show-stoppers – fairly, the adjoining petal-like leaf bracts are.
The true flowers are yellowish-green, tiny, and crowded collectively in an insignificant mass that lacks showiness.
4 leaf bracts lie beneath the flowers, every formed like a top-heavy egg with a notable rose- or maroon-shaded notch at its apex.
The bracts are white in the usual species, however some cultivars function golden-yellow, crimson, or pink hues.
Rising in mid-spring, the flowers are pollinated by butterflies and mining bees, and later give strategy to clusters of shiny crimson drupes, which birds, rabbits, deer, and even black bears discover fairly tasty. Rabbits and deer additionally browse the tree for its leaves and twigs.
However to all Homo sapiens studying this, don’t get any concepts – the fruits are toxic to people.
Cultivation and Historical past
Native People handled colic and fevers utilizing an infusion of C. florida flowers, and likewise used the roots to make crimson dye.
English colonists despatched crops again to England in 1722 however they didn’t reply effectively to the native local weather. Some sources say considered one of these took 40 years to flower!
As soon as a forest species, flowering dogwood was introduced into the panorama as a decorative tree by the 1730s. Notably, United States presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew C. florida on their properties.
Through the Civil Conflict, C. florida bark was utilized in tea and compound tinctures as an alternative to quinine, which was tough to return by.
Makes use of for the wooden embody crafting archery bows, golf membership heads, jeweler’s packing containers, butcher blocks, and power handles.
Within the Seventies, dogwood anthracnose was first reported within the States, which resulted in considerably diminished native dogwood populations.
In 1988, a bunch made up of state and federal representatives was fashioned who meet yearly to debate the development of and present analysis on the illness.
Since then, horticulturalists have bred and cultivated various resistant varieties.
The flowering dogwood was named the state tree of Missouri in 1955 and of Virginia in 1956, and the state flower of North Carolina in 1941.
It’s a beloved decorative planting in dwelling gardens and landscapes.
Propagation
You possibly can propagate C. florida by way of seed, stem cuttings, and transplanting.
You may as well use layering or grafting methods, however for the typical dwelling gardener, it’s simpler to stay with the primary three strategies.
From Seed
To gather seeds, choose fruits after they’re ripe in August – just lately fallen seeds are basically assured to be ripe.
To separate the seeds from the fruit, some growers advocate wrapping duct tape across the blades of a blender, mixing up the fruits, and washing away the loosened flesh by rinsing the seeds in a sieve.
Instantly following cleansing, the seeds will must be stratified.
Put the seeds in a plastic baggie full of damp peat moss, seal it, and place the baggie within the fridge for 120 days. All of the whereas, be sure that to maintain the moss moist.
After stratification, fill well-draining four-inch pots with a 50-50 combination of sphagnum peat moss and perlite.
Pots might be costly, however even punching a few small holes within the bottoms of plastic SOLO cups will do the trick.
Moisten the soil, then bury every seed half an inch deep in its personal pot. Set the pots on a sunny indoor windowsill the place they may obtain oblique mild.
Maintain the soil moist, preserve indoor temperatures of 70 to 80°F, and repot as wanted to keep away from root bindage.
As soon as August rolls round once more, the seedlings needs to be prepared for hardening off.
Transfer the pots outdoors to an space with full or partial solar for thirty to sixty minutes earlier than bringing them again inside.
Every following day, add an extra half to full hour of publicity till the seedlings can deal with a full day open air, after which they’ll be prepared for transplanting!
From Stem Cuttings
Earlier than you start, fill a seed-starting tray with a 50:50 mixture of moist peat moss and perlite.
In early summer season, take four-inch cuttings with a sterile blade from the guidelines of wholesome, semi-hardwood stems.
Take away the leaves from the underside inch of every chopping and dip the minimize ends in a rooting hormone, comparable to Bontone II IBA rooting powder from Bonide.
Bonide Bontone II IBA Rooting Powder
It’s accessible from Arbico Organics.
Stick the hormone-powdered ends of every chopping about an inch deep into the peat and perlite combine in your tray, ensuring to area them a few inches aside.
Place the tray close to a sunny window, and preserve the media across the cuttings moist.
In six to eight weeks, give the cuttings a delicate tug to check for sturdy root improvement. Every rooted chopping might be repotted in its personal four-inch container.
As soon as new leaves type, the cuttings are able to be moved into a chilly body outdoors.
As a result of dogwood cuttings take a few seasons to develop winter hardiness, it’s greatest to maintain them in a hotbed or heated chilly body for the following two years, repotting as crucial and adjusting the temperature as wanted – don’t let it drop beneath freezing or rise excessive sufficient to cook dinner the crops!
As soon as they’re sufficiently hardened off to outside circumstances, it’s time to transplant them into the backyard.
Through Transplanting
Bought transplants? The very best instances for transplanting are late fall and early spring.
Come transplanting time, put together patches of fertile backyard soil with a pH of 5.5 to six.5.
House these websites at the very least 20 toes aside and a minimum of six toes away from close by buildings or crops, and ensure they’re located in partial shade to full solar.
Dig holes of the identical depth and a bit wider than the basis methods of your transplants.
Construct up a mound of soil in the midst of the opening. Decrease the transplants in one by one, unfold their roots over the mound, backfill with soil, and water them in.
Add two to 4 inches of mulch – comparable to pine straw or shredded leaves – to the basis zone and preserve constant soil moisture.
It’s essential to verify the basis flare isn’t lined by both mulch or soil. Whether it is, then return and uncover it.
How you can Develop
For optimum well being and aesthetics, it’s greatest to provide your flowering dogwood the precise circumstances that it wants.
Local weather and Publicity Wants
C. florida performs greatest in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9. As an understory tree, it loves partial shade, however it might additionally deal with a fan of full solar publicity fairly properly at maturity if it’s saved correctly hydrated.
Leaf scorch can happen when circumstances are too dry, so a component shade location needs to be supplied should you want to play it secure.
As soon as your bushes have reached maturity, don’t fear about wind or storm harm, the flowering dogwood is a troublesome specimen.
Soil Wants
As is the case with many crops, well-draining soil is crucial for C. florida, together with a good stage of soil fertility and the 5.5 to six.5 pH vary talked about above.
Soil compaction is one other situation that this tree tolerates effectively, which is useful should you’re working with heavy soils.
Water and Fertilizer Wants
Ideally, you need to preserve even soil moisture whereas avoiding oversaturation.
This generally is a superb line to tread, so err on the aspect of warning in the case of irrigation – suppose minimal efficient dose, fairly than most tolerable quantity.
A helpful irrigation prescription is to water at any time when the highest inch of soil feels dry.
Maintain soil fertility up by working a pair inches of well-rotted manure or compost into the basis zone each spring.
Rising Ideas
- Develop in a component shade location.
- Present well-draining soil with a pH stage of 5.5 to six.5.
- Maintain the soil moist, however not saturated.
Pruning and Upkeep
Broken, diseased, or useless branches needs to be pruned everytime you discover them, however extra thorough bouts of pruning needs to be an annual follow, performed simply previous to the emergence of latest progress in spring.
Throughout these annual pruning classes, give attention to eradicating crossing or rubbing branches, watersprouts/suckers, and any obtrusive branches that hinder inter-canopy airflow… however don’t take away greater than a 3rd of the tree in a single go!
Don’t fear about shaping the shape or behavior – a flowering dogwood appears to be like higher au naturel.
Sustaining the mulch layer you added upon transplanting with contemporary materials is efficient for preserving soil moisture, regulating soil temperature, and stopping weed progress.
As a deciduous tree, C. florida will drop its leaves every year, which can must be raked up. One cool factor about fallen Cornus foliage, although, is its fast decomposition.
Flowering dogwood leaves, for instance, are 10 instances faster to decompose than oak leaves. Any raked-up and shredded leaves from wholesome specimens would make for an ideal mulch or composting materials!
Rake up and eliminate fallen leaves in case your prime precedence is illness prevention, as pathogens can stay on in leaf detritus.
Cultivars to Choose
A daily ol’ flowering dogwood is already fairly spectacular.
You could find a four- to five-foot potted C. florida specimen at FastGrowingTrees.com.
Flowering Dogwood
For seeds, the CZ Grain Retailer sells 20-packs of white-flowering C. florida seeds on Amazon.
However maybe you’re after a sure trait that the usual species lacks. In that case, you’re in luck – there are greater than 100 cultivars to select from.
Listed below are my private favorites.
Appalachian Spring
The flowering dogwood is thought for lots of issues, however illness resistance isn’t considered one of them.
Nevertheless, ‘Appalachian Spring’ is the exception: it’s practically impervious to Discula destructiva, a very nasty pathogen that you simply’ll study shortly.
It additionally packs some severe magnificence inside its upright 20- to 30-foot-tall body, with overlapping white flower bracts and gorgeously crimson fall hues.
So sure, it might dish out the aesthetics and take the anthracnose.
Cherokee Chief
Whereas the opposite three cultivars described right here have white flowers – a mirrored image of my very own aesthetic bias – ‘Cherokee Chief’ is a wonderful exception.
The leaf bracts of ‘Cherokee Chief’ are just about the inverse of the usual species’: ruby-red, with white notches at their apex.
There’s a little bit of further white on the bract bases, which creates a white “aura” of types that pulls the attention to the greenish true flowers on the middle.
Reaching a top of 20 to 25 toes and a width of 12 to 18 toes, this cultivar is extra upright than the usual species plant. A show of pleasure, maybe?
‘Cherokee Chief’
FastGrowingTrees.com sells ‘Cherokee Chief’ in two- to three- or four- to five-foot sizes.
Cherokee Princess
However maybe you’re content material with a white flowering dogwood. In that case, ‘Cherokee Princess’ is just an enchancment upon the unique.
This tree emerges early in spring, even for a flowering dogwood.
Moreover, the white blooms of this selection attain 5 inches in diameter – an inch or two wider than commonplace.
At a mature top and width of 20 toes, it’s additionally resistant to identify anthracnose and canker.
A constant champion of C. florida cultivar evaluations, ‘Cherokee Princess’ emerges from dormancy earlier, flowers extra closely, and produces wider bracts than the usual – C. florida 2.0, if you’ll.
‘Cherokee Princess’
You could find ‘Cherokee Princess’ in #5 containers accessible from Nature Hills Nursery.
Cloud 9
Can’t get sufficient flowers? With the ‘Cloud 9’ cultivar rising in your panorama, you’ll be on cloud 9.
Reaching a top and width of 15 to twenty toes, the white bracts of ‘Cloud 9’ develop extra densely than is typical, to the purpose of overlapping with one another. This selection additionally has a slower progress price than the species plant.
Together with canker resistance, ‘Cloud 9’ has a larger tolerance for ice, snow, and chilly temperatures than different flowering dogwoods.
If you happen to’re positioned simply on the border of Zone 5 – or shocked by the occasional unusually harsh winter – then ‘Cloud 9’ is the right selection.
‘Cloud 9’
You could find ‘Cloud 9’ accessible from FastGrowingTrees.com.
Managing Pests and Illness
All of the splendor of a flowering dogwood doesn’t imply squat if the plant is wracked with illness or infestation.
And sadly for C. florida, it’s susceptible to an infection or harm brought on by loads of pathogens and pests.
Herbivores
Within the wild, a flowering dogwood attracts a wide range of plant-eating mammals to its tasty fruits, leaves, and/or twigs.
There are a pair for the house gardener to be looking out for:
Deer
Your greatest protection towards deer? A “D-fence.”… and the “D” stands for deer.
Certainly, a deer fence round your property will preserve your panorama protected against any cervid-chomping.
Moreover, sprays of deer repellent round inclined plantings will additional deter Bambi from feasting.
Enviro Professional Deer Repellent
In want of assets? We’ve obtained deer fencing and deer management guides so that you can learn, and Enviro Professional sells six-pound tubs of granular deer repellent by way of Amazon.
Rabbits
Similar to deer, rabbits will browse the leaves and twigs of C. florida, if given the prospect.
Take away mentioned probability with a fringe of hen wire or {hardware} material.
Erect it two to 3 toes in top, and bury it two to 3 inches beneath the bottom round every plant to forestall sub-surface tunneling.
Galvanized Fencing Wire
Want some fencing? These galvanized rolls of fencer wire from House Depot ought to meet your wants simply superb.
Bugs
Maintaining creepy-crawlies from consuming your Cornus will prevent some strife on the illness entrance, since bugs also can vector pathogens.
Borers
Aka Synanthedon scitula, dogwood borers are the larval type of a wasp-like clearwing moth that lays its eggs in bark wounds and openings.
After they hatch, the larvae feed on the interior bark and cambium, which might result in department loss of life, decreased vigor, and even the loss of life of all the tree… particularly in case your tree is younger.
Including insult to harm, infested leaves can redden and drop early.
Correct cultivation will assist shore up any bark openings that the moths would possibly lay eggs in. Keep away from pointless harm by being cautious along with your mowing, pruning, and string trimming.
Functions of permethrin in early Might, repeated at three-week intervals till fall, will help management. Goal the trunk, main branches, and any bark wounds along with your spray.
Timber infested past restore needs to be eliminated and disposed of.
Membership Gall Midges
The dogwood membership gall midge (Resseliella clavula) is a small fly measuring a sixteenth of an inch in size.
Feminine adults lay their eggs in terminal leaves, which hatch, enter the shoots, and start feeding.
Small galls type in response, which kills any portion of the stem past the gall.
Come fall, the larvae exit the gall and drop to the bottom to overwinter. Together with the galls, leaf wilt and deformation are each noticeable signs.
Gentle infestations aren’t a giant situation, however heavy infestations can stunt progress. While you discover galls, take away and burn the twigs on which they reside.
Sawflies
The first symptom of a Macremphytus tarsatus infestation is partially to utterly consumed foliage, which is eaten by these pests of their larval stage.
Younger larvae are coated in a powdery white wax, whereas mature larvae are yellow, with black spots or crossing stripes. Defoliation can result in well being points for the plant.
Start to observe for these pests in early July, and manually take away any larvae that you simply see. Sprays of horticultural oil – utilized in response to bundle instructions – will help with heavier infestations.
Illness
Using sterile instruments, planting in disease-free soils, and choosing crops free from sickness will all assist to forestall the unfold of pathogens that might severely wreck your C. florida.
Anthracnose
Also called Discula anthracnose, this illness is brought on by Discula destructiva fungi, a reputation that’s forebodingly ominous. And for good purpose – to a Cornus, anthracnose is virtually The Black Loss of life.
Preliminary signs seem in spring as spots on the leaves and leaf bracts, which work their method up the tree. Contaminated foliage develops purple-edged tan spots, massive blotches, and dry brown margins, which might blight the leaves and trigger drooping.
The an infection additionally causes cankers on the stems, branches, and trunk, finally girdling and killing the tree.
To stop an infection, plant resistant cultivars comparable to ‘Appalachian Spring.’ Take away and pitch any water sprouts, useless branches, and fallen leaves, potential overwintering websites for the fungi.
Bettering air circulation by way of pruning may also decrease the percentages of an infection, and spraying new buds, leaves, and shoots with accepted, anthracnose-targeting fungicides in early spring will assist to guard your tree.
You’ll want to rotate fungicides to keep away from fungal resistance towards anybody kind.
Cankered branches needs to be eliminated as you discover them. If that doesn’t enhance an contaminated tree’s well being, you need to in all probability excavate and eliminate the specimen.
Fungal Leaf Spot
Leaf spot in flowering dogwood could also be brought on by Cercospora cornicola fungi and species of Septoria.
An infection primarily happens through the moist summer season months.
Each sorts of fungi trigger small, irregularly-shaped spots bordered by leaf veins. Cercospora spots are tannnish-brown, whereas Septoria spots are a darker brown.
Fungal leaf spot gained’t kill the tree, but it surely actually gained’t assist its appears to be like. Cleansing up fallen leaves promptly will assist with prevention, whereas extra extreme infections might be managed with fungicides.
Powdery Mildew
Attributable to the fungus Erysiphe pulchra, powdery mildew covers higher leaf and shoot surfaces with a superb white powder.
Further signs embody marginal leaf scorch, reddish discoloration, yellowing, and untimely leaf drop. Infections aren’t deadly, however all of those signs can impression the plant’s magnificence.
For prevention, eliminate close by fallen leaves, take away contaminated tissues, and prune to enhance air circulation.
Cultivars from the Appalachian sequence together with ‘Pleasure,’ ‘Blush,’ ‘Snow,’ and ‘Mist’ all present resistance towards powdery mildew.
Fungicides comparable to myclobutanil and propiconazole – utilized in response to instructions on the label or by an expert arborist – work for management.
Finest Makes use of
Whether or not planted individually or as a part of a small grouping, flowering dogwood appears to be like superior as a specimen planting.
It affords multiseason visible curiosity with distinctive aesthetics all year long: spectacular spring blooms, lush summer season leaves, colourful fall foliage, and an attention-grabbing branching behavior to take pleasure in throughout in any other case barren winters.
As a mid-size understory tree that may survive simply superb out within the open, C. florida is flexible within the panorama.
It appears to be like proper at dwelling in woodland and native gardens, and matches in areas the place bigger bushes gained’t.
For followers of fauna in addition to flora, C. florida attracts pollinators with its flowers, whereas its fruits appeal to birds and varied mammals.
Fast Reference Rising Information
Plant Sort: | Deciduous flowering tree | Flower/Foliage Colour: | Inexperienced, gold-yellow, pink, white/darkish inexperienced (crimson to reddish-purple in fall) |
Native to: | Southeastern Canada, jap United States and Mexico | Water Wants: | Average |
Hardiness (USDA Zones): | 5-9 | Upkeep: | Average |
Bloom Time: | Spring | Tolerance | Compacted soil, hearth, juglone, storm harm, wind |
Publicity: | Half shade to full solar | Soil Sort: | Moist, fertile |
Time to Maturity: | 6 years | Soil pH: | 5.5-6.5 |
Spacing: | 20 toes aside, 6 toes from buildings | Soil Drainage: | Effectively-draining |
Planting Depth: | 1/2 inch (seeds), depth of root system (transplants) | Attracts: | Birds, butterflies, mammals, mining bees |
Peak: | 15-35 toes | Makes use of: | Chook gardens, groupings, native gardens, specimens, woodland gardens |
Unfold: | 15-40 toes | Household: | Cornaceae |
Development Fee: | Sluggish (juvenile), reasonable (established) | Genus: | Cornus |
Frequent Pests and Illnesses: | Dogwood borer, dogwood membership gall midge, dogwood sawfly; dogwood anthracnose, fungal leaf spot, powdery mildew | Species: | Florida |
A Dogwood Pun? However Wouldn’t That Be Cornus?
I’m sorry, however I needed to.
Anyhow, now you’ll be able to develop the flowering dogwood! It’s beautiful, versatile, and although it could put your plant well being care expertise to the check, most would agree it’s definitely worth the hassle.
Plus, it’s a bit slice of marvelous Missouri which you can put in your panorama… which, I’ll admit, I say with a heavy bias.
Any questions or remarks about rising this tree can go into the feedback part beneath!
Inquisitive about rising another panorama bushes? Then have at these right here guides:
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