A Beginner’s Guide To The Native Flowering Dogwood Tree

The Flowering Dogwood tree is a short tree native to Eastern North America, and is one of the most popular residential landscaping choice in North America, and it isn’t hard to see why. The large showy blooms persist for roughly one month in Spring, usually following right behind the Eastern Redbud. Growing to 10-45’ in height, it is easy to find a location in most people’s yards as it prefers part-sun to full sun and dry to moist soils that drain well^[1][2][3][4]. While there are many flowering trees that are commonly called ‘dogwood’, this guide will focus on one specific species of it, Cornus florida.

In the wild is found most commonly in open woods and along forest edges, but for most of use we will encounter it as a cultivated specimen in residential or municipal landscaping. The showy flowers it produces in Spring attract numerous bees, beetles, and various pollinating flies. The fruits are also extremely popular among birds and small mammals, while deer and rabbits will brows leaves and young twigs/bark. Make no mistake, this shrub is very valuable to wildlife.

Native Range

Flowering Dogwood’s native range is everywhere Southeast from Texas to Michigan, Southern Ontario, and Maine. It has a wide native range, covering roughly 40% of the continental USA.

Reference Table

Scientific Name	Cornus florida
Common Name(s)	Dogwood, Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Flowering Dogwood, White Cornel, White Dogwood, Arrowwood, American Boxwood, Cornelian Tree
Native Range, USDA Zone	Central and Eastern North America, USDA zones 5-9
Bloom Time	Mid Spring
Bloom Duration, Color	Four weeks, white
Height	10-45’ tall
Spacing / Spread	10-30’
Light Requirements	Part-sun to Full-sun
Soil Types	Sandy loam to clay loam
Moisture	Slightly Dry to moist
Fauna Associations / Larval Hosts	Bees, pollinating flies, beetles, birds, mammals. Hosts leafhoppers, moths, Spring azure butterfly

Benefits

Beauty

The flowering display it puts out in Spring is nothing short of stunning. A large Flowering Dogwood gleaming white against a dark green forest backdrop is a beautiful site. But even in the fall the leaves will turn a beautiful shade of red that is equally as gorgeous.

Long Bloom Time

The flowering display from Dogwoods easily go 3-4 weeks in mid-Spring. This is longer than many other flowering trees and shrubs. So, you’ll get that showy display for much longer.

Wildlife Value

The amount of wildlife that benefits from this tree is immense. Pollinators in Spring, caterpillars and beetles in Summer, Birds and mammals in Fall. This tree brings something for everyone!

Adaptable

Tolerating a wide range of sunlight, moisture, and soil textures means this tree can grow in just about anyone’s yard. There is always a spot for it.

Identification and Characteristics

Trunk / Bark

The overall tree can reach ~30’ tall depending on conditions. The crown, when grown in the opening will be more round, however the branches will generally be pointed up (ascending). The bark is very distinct though, as it resembles a jigsaw puzzle as it is a series of square plates divided by ridges.

Leaf

Flowering Dogwood has opposite leaves that are ovate to ovate-elliptic in shape with smooth margins and grow up to 5” long by 2” wide. The leaves are green in color with hairs on the underside, and smooth on the upper side. In Autumn the leaves will turn a beautiful shade of red/pink^[1][2].

Flower

The flowers of Flowering Dogwood occur in mid-spring at the end of branchlets. There is a cluster of small flowers that are surrounded by four large petals (bracts) that are generally cream to white in color, and may have a ting of pink at the base or end.

The flowers are so large that it is easy to spot one in bloom from hundreds of yards away across a farm field. They are very conspicuous and if grown in the open, will be very showy.

Root

The root system of Flowering Dogwood is a branching tap root.

Growing Conditions

Flowering Dogwoods are very adaptable when it comes to sunlight in that they can do well in both part-sun (2-4 hrs/day) and full sun (6-12 hrs/day). The more sun the tree receives, the faster it will grow and showier it will be.

For soil textures it will prefer sandy loam to clay loam. But above all else it should drain well. This plant doesn’t tolerate soggy roots. And for moisture, it can do moist to slightly dry soils.

Fertilizer

Dogwoods don’t need fertilizer. They will do just fine in regular soil provided it drains.

Disease

Powdery Mildew

Flowering Dogwood is susceptible to powdery mildew, which is a fungus that gives the leaves a white ‘powdery’ appearance. Planting your tree in full sun will reduce the chances of infection. Treatment can be done via fungicides, and should be carried out to prevent stress to the tree^[5].

Anthracnose

Another disease, Anthracnose is caused by the fungus Discula destructiva^[5]. Like Powdery Mildew, it occurs in cool, moist conditions at looks like lesions or blotches on the leaves. If untreated, dieback to branches and trunks can occur.

Spot Anthracnose

Another fungus, Spot Anthracnose is primarily cosmetic in damage but can reduce the number of flowers and foliage, which reduces growth. It is more common in moist conditions and humid weather. It will manifest itself as red-purple lesions with tan centers on leaves and flower bracts (petals)^[5].

How to Grow Dogwood from Seed

Looking to get a row of Dogwoods started? Well, you can absolutely grow them from seed. Harvest fruits in late summer as they turn ripe. You will know they are ripe when birds begin picking them off, so keep tabs on them.

Next you will remove the flesh, which is a tedious job by hand, and then place the seed in a thoroughly moist paper towel in the fridge. Do this until you are ready to winter sow them ¼” deep in 9” tall pots, which I recommend doing by October. You should do this because the seeds need a cold-moist stratification period of 100-130 days^[6]. Keep the pots in an unheated garage or shed so they don’t freeze solid, and add a small amount of water each week. By early Spring, you can move the pots outside – just protect them from squirrels who like to dig them up!

You can expect germination by mid-Spring. Once they make a set or two of true leaves, you can plant them out to their final location, or just continue to grow them in pots until fall. I grew a whole mess of these a couple years via winter sowing ago and had a very high germination rate.

Wildlife Associations

Where to begin on wildlife? Well, let’s start with the flowers. Charles Robertson observed just shy of 30 species visiting the flowers including a variety of long and short-tongued bees, wasps, moths, beetles, and butterflies^[7]. There are numerous wood-boring insects that will eat parts of the flowers and wood. And it also hosts a significant number of moths as well as the Spring Azure butterfly.

The fruits will feed nearly 40 species of birds, chipmunks, squirrels, mice, fox, bear, beaver, deer, and skunk^[1][2]. Rabbits and deer will eat the leaves and fresh twigs of the tree too.

Where you can buy Dogwood

Flowering Dogwood is readily available at nurseries. The straight native species will likely need to be purchased at a nursery that specializes in native plants (click here to see our directory). And there are numerous cultivars available in a wide variety of color and sizes.

Uses of Dogwood

Landscaping

When it comes to landscaping with dogwood, there are a couple principles to consider. First, the more sun the tree gets, the larger and showier it will be. But if you have a shady spot that only gets a few hours of sun per day, you can still plant one there, just know that it will grow slower and not be as showy.

The only real characteristic to avoid when planting a dogwood tree is to not place it in an overly wet or site that is poorly draining. The roots need oxygen, and if they are constantly submerged it could stress the tree and bring disease.

Companion Plants

There are numerous plants that can be planted with dogwoods that look great. If you are thinking primarily about other trees and shrubs, consider other flowering natives like Eastern Redbud, Viburnums, or even crab apple trees. All share an affinity for similar growing conditions.

If you are trying to have a dogwood anchor a large flowerbed, then adding a number of spring ephemerals such as Virginia Bluebells and Spring Beauty near the base, with shorter part-sun loving perennials near the dripline (Penstemon, Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Aromatic Aster) could make for a stunning combination.

Final Thoughts

There is a reason this is one of the most popular native shrub/trees for residential landscaping – it can provide a ‘wow’ factor better than most flowering shrubs. But its beauty aside, the fact that it can feed so many pollinators in Spring and birds in the fall make it one of the more environmentally friendly choices for a residential landscape.

Find more native plants here