The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is a small, deciduous tree native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. It's a popular ornamental tree prized for its showy spring blooms and attractive form.
Here's a closer look at this flowering beauty:
Appearance
--Typically grows 15-30 feet tall with a low branching, broadly pyramidal but somewhat flat-topped habit.
--Known for its beautiful white or pink flowers that bloom in early spring, shortly after the redbuds.
--The flowers are not true petals, but bracts, which are modified leaves.
--Four showy bracts surround a cluster of tiny greenish-yellow flowers in the center.
--In summer, it develops bright red fruit, which birds love.
--Leaves are opposite, simple, ovate, with an apparently entire margin. They turn a rich red-brown in fall.
Varieties
--The most common type is the white flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), but there are also pink flowering varieties (Cornus florida var. rubra)
Planting
--Prefers part shade to full sun.
--Does best in fertile, evenly moist, acidic to neutral, well-drained soils.
--Grows well in hardiness zones 5 to 9.
Interesting facts
--The name dogwood actually comes from the fact that people used to make cooking skewers (called “dags” or “dogs”) out of its dense, hard wood.
--It is the state tree of both Missouri and Virginia.
