Tree · Cornaceae
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida
Give it part shade and moist, acidic soil, and the flowering dogwood will thank you with spring bracts and red autumn fruit.
Partial shade
Every 5–10 days
USDA 5–9
15–30 ft · 4.6–9.1 m
Overview
Flowering dogwood is one of the best-loved small trees of eastern North America, the kind that brightens the spring woods with wide white blooms. Out in the wild it lives as an understory tree, tucking in below taller oaks and pines where the light comes through soft and dappled and the soil stays cool and damp. Once you picture that home of its own, almost everything about growing it well starts to make sense.
The spring display plays a charming little trick on the eye. The four big white parts you reach out to touch are really bracts, modified leaves cupped around a small knot of true flowers in the middle. They open across April and May, sometimes ahead of the leaves, and afterward the tree hangs out clusters of bright red fruit from August into October that the birds happily clear away.
It earns its moderate rating because it does ask for the right home and can stumble into a few diseases when it is stressed. Find it a kind spot, sheltered from the harshest afternoon sun with ground that drains yet never dries to dust, and it eases into a long, gentle life. Crowd it into hot, dry, compacted soil and you simply invite the troubles that cut its years short, so a little care up front saves a lot later.
Care
The short version: give it part shade with shelter from harsh afternoon sun, moist and acidic well-drained soil, a 2 to 4 inch layer of mulch to keep the roots cool, and a kind, watchful eye for anthracnose in cool, damp seasons.
Light
Remember that this is an understory tree, so it gladly leans into part shade and loves a rest from the hot afternoon sun. It will accept full sun in cooler regions or with steady moisture, but a baking, wide-open spot wears it down and lets disease find an opening.
Water
Aim to keep the soil consistently moist, because the tree truly cannot cope with drought, heat, or packed-down ground. Water it deeply through dry spells and tuck 2 to 4 inches of mulch over the roots to hold the moisture in and keep those shallow roots cool and content.
Soil
Set it into rich, acidic, well-drained loam with a good helping of organic matter mixed through. A pH somewhere between 6.0 and 7.0 suits it nicely, and soil that drains freely yet never bakes dry is the comfortable middle ground it loves.
Temperature
It is wonderfully hardy across a broad range, from about -20°F to 100°F (-29°C to 38°C), so it takes cold winters and hot summers in stride. Of the two, the heat is the bigger worry, because a tree worn down and parched by heat is the one disease tends to single out first.
Humidity
Plain outdoor humidity is all it needs, with no fussing required on your part. What matters far more is good airflow, since still, crowded air around the canopy is exactly what gives anthracnose and mildew their chance.
Feeding
Feed it just once in early spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer made for acid-loving plants. Keep a light hand with the nitrogen, since a sudden rush of soft new growth is the very thing anthracnose loves to feast on.
Pruning
Do your pruning in late fall or winter while the tree is dormant, lifting out any dead, diseased, or cankered wood along with stray water sprouts. Work gently and try not to wound the bark, because an open cut is the little doorway borers slip in through.
Repotting
This is a landscape tree that rarely needs repotting, so you can mostly relax. If you are nursing a young one along in a container, only move it up when the roots begin circling the surface or the pot dries out fast after every drink.
Size & spacing
A grown flowering dogwood reaches 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) tall and spreads roughly as wide. Give it that whole 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) of open room so the canopy can breathe freely and disease has far less of a foothold.
When to plant
Flowering dogwood lives by the rhythm of the temperate woods, and once you learn its calendar the rest feels easy. The bracts open across April and May, the red fruit colors up from August into October, and the gentlest time to settle a new tree into the ground is spring or fall while it rests dormant.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Not typically started indoors; seed is sown outdoors in fall or stratified at about 41 degrees F for up to 120 days before spring sowing
- Plant: Spring or fall while dormant
- Harvest: April to May (showy white bracts before or with leaf emergence); red fruit August to October
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Most dogwood worries start with a stressful spot and reveal themselves on the leaves before they ever reach the wood, which is good news for you. Spot them early, above all in a cool, wet spring, and you can usually stop a small problem before it climbs to the trunk. Match what you are seeing below, then step in while it still makes a difference, and remember that most setbacks here are recoverable.
Blotchy, drooping leaves that lead to sunken cankers on the trunk
If the lowest leaves develop tan spots edged in purple and the trouble creeps upward into the twigs and trunk, the tree is likely facing dogwood anthracnose, its most serious disease, and it bites deepest in cool, damp, shaded corners. Left alone the cankers can ring a branch and take the whole tree, but you have real tools here. Prune away cankered wood in dry weather, gather up fallen leaves, open the canopy so air can move, and reach for a labeled fungicide from bud break onward wherever the danger is high.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy dead and cankered wood during dry summer weather
- Remove water sprouts and rake and dispose of fallen leaves
- Improve air circulation and avoid excess nitrogen
- Apply a labeled fungicide (chlorothalonil, mancozeb, propiconazole, or copper) from bud break through new growth in high-risk sites
Early red leaves, peeling bark, and sawdust near holes in the trunk
Peeling bark and little piles of sawdust-like frass near the trunk usually mean the dogwood borer has moved in, a larva that tunnels under the bark after slipping through a wound. It is worth catching early, since a young tree can be lost in a season or two, but a healthy tree is far better armored. Keep it well watered and thriving, guard the bark from mower and trimmer nicks, and brush a labeled permethrin onto the trunk starting in early May.
Fix:
- Keep trees healthy with proper watering and fertilization
- Avoid bark wounds from lawn equipment
- Apply labeled permethrin to trunk and major branches beginning in early May, repeating per label
Powdery white film on the leaves with scorched edges
A soft, dusty white film over the fresh growth is the calling card of powdery mildew, which settles in where shade is heavy and the air barely stirs. The leaf edges may brown and a few leaves can drop ahead of schedule, but take heart, the tree almost always pulls through. Thin the canopy and the plants crowded around it to get a breeze flowing, and dab on a labeled fungicide the moment the first patches turn up.
Fix:
- Thin canopy and surrounding plantings to improve air circulation
- Apply a labeled fungicide (myclobutanil, propiconazole, sulfur, or copper) early when symptoms first appear
Tiny purple-rimmed spots dotting the bracts and young leaves
When the spring bracts pick up a scatter of small tan spots ringed in reddish purple, that is spot anthracnose, and it tends to flare in wet weather. It can look a little rough and even wrinkle a bract, yet it almost never leaves the tree any worse for it. Open the canopy for airflow, lean toward resistant varieties, and in a truly bad year spray a labeled fungicide every 10 to 14 days from bud break through leaf expansion.
Fix:
- Thin the canopy to improve air circulation
- Plant resistant varieties
- Apply a labeled fungicide every 10 to 14 days from bud break through leaf expansion in severe cases
Toxicity
Here is some reassuring news for a home with animals: flowering dogwood is not toxic. The ASPCA does not place it among the plants that poison cats or dogs, and it poses no real danger to other pets, livestock, or people. The red fruit does taste bitter, so eating a lot of it might bring a mild stomach ache, yet there is nothing in the tree to fear.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
You can relax about the cats, since the ASPCA does not count flowering dogwood among the plants that poison them, so a curious nibble is nothing to fret over. A cat that gobbles a pile of leaves might bring them back up, but the tree holds no poison to harm it.
Dogs Safe
Dogs are perfectly fine around this tree as well, since it never made the ASPCA toxic list. A greedy mouthful of bark or fruit could give a dog a brief upset tummy, yet there is nothing here that will do any lasting harm.
Horses Safe
Horses can graze near a dogwood with no worry at all. Its leaves and twigs carry nothing toxic, and the tree has never been known to trouble grazing animals.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits are welcome to browse the foliage safely, as not a thing in the plant is poisonous to them. A bunny still does best on its usual hay and fresh greens, so think of tree leaves as a harmless extra rather than a meal.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep are at no risk from a dogwood standing in or beside the pasture. The tree counts as non-toxic, so an animal that strips a few low branches will come away just fine.
Birds Safe
Birds adore the bright red fruit and eat it with gusto, which is the very way the seeds find new ground. Far from a hazard, those berries are a generous little feast you can feel good about.
People Safe
There is no poisoning risk to people from this tree, so you can plant it near children with an easy mind. The red fruit tastes bitter, and eating a lot of it may bring on a mild stomach ache, but nothing about the tree is dangerous.
No special toxicity handling required; as with any plant, discourage pets from chewing large amounts of foliage or fruit.
Varieties
Most of the dogwoods you will come across at the nursery are named cultivars, chosen for their bract color, fuller bloom, or better disease resistance. A few are especially nice to know as you start out.
Cherokee Chief
If you love a splash of color, this selection swaps the everyday white for deep rosy-red bracts that glow against the new spring leaves.
Cherokee Princess
Count on this one for a generous, reliable show, since it cloaks itself early in plenty of big white bracts.
Cloud 9
This is a wonderfully eager bloomer, blanketed in white flowers and happy to put on a display even while still young.
Appalachian Spring
A comforting choice for worried growers, this white-bracted selection is treasured for shrugging off dogwood anthracnose.
How to propagate
There are three friendly ways to make more flowering dogwoods, and the one that suits you comes down to whether matching a named cultivar matters for your garden.
SeedModerate
Sow in fall, or stratify cleaned seed at about 41 degrees F for up to 120 days then sow in spring · Germinates the following spring; some seed delays to the second year
The seed comes with a built-in rest that a stretch of cold gently lifts, so there is an easy path either way. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in fall, or chill it at around 41°F (5°C) for up to 120 days and sow in spring, and it should sprout the following spring, with a few seeds patiently waiting until the second year. Just know that seedlings come out a little different from one another, so they will not match a named cultivar.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood cuttings in summer · Several weeks to root; cuttings from young trees root and grow better than those from mature trees
Take softwood cuttings in summer, or hardwood cuttings through the winter, and either can work for you. They tend to root in a few weeks, and the happy news is that cuttings taken from young trees root and grow far more willingly than those off old wood.
GraftingDemanding
Dormant season grafting or budding · One or more growing seasons to establish
This is the trickier route the nurseries rely on to keep a named cultivar true. Grafting or budding while the tree sleeps in the dormant season holds the bract color and disease resistance steady, and the young tree simply needs a season or more to settle in comfortably.
Myths
Flowering dogwood does best in full, hot sun like most flowering trees.
This is a native understory tree at heart, so it longs for part shade over moist, acidic, organically rich soil. It has little patience for drought, heat, or hard-packed ground, and a tree left to bake in a dry spot soon grows stressed. A stressed dogwood falls to disease far more readily, which is why the spot you choose for it counts as much as anything you do down the road.
The big white petals of a dogwood bloom are its real flowers.
Those four lovely white parts that everyone stops to admire are not petals at all. They are bracts, which are modified leaves, and the genuine flowers are the little yellowish-green clusters gathered quietly in the center.