If there’s anytime to talk about Dogwood it’s now – right in the middle of their bloomtime. Yes, the Flowering Dogwood have mostly had their peak but the hybrids are shining now and the Koreans are about to pop. We have a great selection of the Flowering, Hybrid and Kousa Dogwoods so it was easy to take these close-ups. We hope it helps out if you’re selecting them for their colorful flower (bracts!).

Most customers either ask for Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) or C. kousa (Korean Dogwood), but forget about the Rutgers Hybrids. They have an interesting story that centers around Dr. Elwin Orton. Our native Flowering Dogwood were severely affected by Anthracnose in the early ’70s. And to top it off they were also prone to Dogwood borers. Dr. Orton of Rutgers University came to the rescue when he crossed C. florida with C. kousa as an answer to these problems. 25 years later he came up with the Stellar Series. Introduced in the ’90s, these hybrid Dogwoods include C. x ‘Aurora’, ‘Constellation’ and ‘Stellar Pink’, among others. Later he developed the fast growing ‘Hyperion’. When it comes to the variegated ‘Celestial Shadow, a pioneer in our industry and one of the foremost leaders in new plant introductions, Don Shadow, discovered a variegated sport on one of these hybrids at his nursery in Tennessee.

Choose which one works best for your jobs based on site conditions. Full sun? Korean or the Rutgers hybrids are probably best. Partial shade along a wood line? The native Flowering Dogwood is what you need. Stop in soon and see them first hand while some are still in bloom.

Picture key:
top: Flowering Dogwood, Cherokee Brave, Cherokee Chief, Cherokee Princess
middle: var.rubra, x Aurora, x Celestial Shadow, x Constellation
bottom: x Hyperion, x Stellar Pink