Winter Plant Spotlight – Dogwood Shrub
Many people are familiar with the beautiful spring-flowering dogwood tree (cornus kousa). Fewer are aware of the wonderful attributes of the dogwood shrub (cornus alba, cornus sericea).
This four-season shrub is useful in every landscape.
In the spring it’s covered with white flowers which are followed by a bluish tinted fruit in summer.
In fall the leaves can turn a dusty maroon.
But it is in winter that this shrub shines.
Bare stems are either vivid red or yellow and brighten the winter landscape. The cultivar ‘Cardinal’ is one of my favorite varieties for its brilliant red/orange stems.
Cut back 1/3 of dogwood branches every year as the most beautiful color occurs on newer stems.
Fothergilla
My Fall Plant Spotlight -Fothergilla.
One look at this deciduous shrub in fall and you’ll have to have one. It’s beautiful in the spring with white, fragrant bottle brush flowers appearing before the leaves. During the summer fothergilla’s textured leaves are a nice medium green.
But it is in late fall that this shrub shines. Orange, red, and yellow leaves combine on one knockout plant. Fothergilla will color best in full sun but can take some shade. One of my favorites for reliable color is ‘Mt Airy’.
Fothergilla major grows between 5-10 feet; fothergilla gardenii between 3-5. If you can’t decide which fall color you like best, why not plant a low-maintenance shrub that can give you them all?
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