Cornus Species, Creek Dogwood, Dogwood, Red Osier Dogwood, Red Twig Dogwood

Good-looking shrub noted for its smooth red stems during the cold half of the year. It gets good reddish fall color, bears white flattish...Read More flower clusters in late May-early June that are nice, that later bear white berries loved by birds. Fast growing and best in full sun so that leaf spot disease and black twig canker are not bad. Dislikes dry soils and strong drought, but grows in moist or draining wet soils in swamps. Commonly sold and planted and known by a good number of the general public. The straight species does ground sucker some. The bailey variety does not sucker much, if at all and may have some bluish in the berries and a little hair on the stems. The similar Siberian Redtwig Dogwood has smaller leaves to 4" long, not to 5" long, and does not sucker.

Is recovering from the shock of being planted on a clay bank. Benefits from coppicing to create a bushier look

Great plant for a rain garden in the city. The branches cannot be beaten during the winter gloom as well. Besides, they make a great holiday bouquet.

This species is a common native of the United States - during winter I have seen its red twigs mainly around ponds or swamps. It will als...Read Moreo grow in woodland shade but it will have less flowers and dullen winter colors. It is also found in Northern Minnesota so it is truely zone 3 hardy. A Asian species is more often used in landscapes, Tatarian Dogwood but more often for its variegated leaves cultivar than twigs. There are also some cultivars of Red Dogwood that have barks dark red mixed with blue it is almost maroon and others have yellow bark so a winter planting of red and yellow looks wonderful. There are many different shades of red offered. A willow species that have started to be planted more often in recent years can be confused with Red Twig Dogwood but generally are more upright and larger in size.