![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22-Cornus_Baileyi_20230522_150916.jpg\" "\\"22-Cornus_Baileyi_20230522_150916\\"")
<\/p>\nCornus (Dogwood) is not a species of plant that we put much thought into. Most of them sit in the background being the workhorses they are. Cornus are one the of the few species that cover all \u201ctypes\u201d of plants. From the 3\u201d perennial Cornus canadensis (\u201cBunchberry\u201d) to the shrubby \u2018Ivory Halo\u2019 types (many of them natives) to multiple sizes of ornamental trees which also include many natives.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with humble Cornus sericea and its cultivars, the \u201cRedtwig\u2019 and \u201cYellowtwig\u201d dogwoods. We\u2019ll cover the natives first, then cultivars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cornus Baileyi<\/p>\n
C s. Baileyi\u2026 Wait, I said natives first!!! And \u2018Baileyi\u2019s\u2019 gets included in with the natives. Unlike its cousins \u2018Bergessons\u2019, \u2018Kelsy\u2019 etc., \u2018Baileyi\u2019 is a naturally occurring hybrid that was found on the side of the road in Minnesota by a worker from Bailey Nursery. Yes, officially \u2018Baileyi\u2019 are considered a cultivar (scientifically speaking) but because it is a naturally occurring hybrid it is usually ok to swap for straight Cornus sericea. The straight species, \u2018Baileyi\u2019, and all the other cultivars of Cornus sericea like wet to swampish locations and have a vase-shaped habit. What is the difference? \u2018Baileyi\u2019 has a deeper red color in the winter! That is it! \u2026officially<\/p>\n
![\"Cornus](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22-CornusSericea_BudsYellow_20220423_113958.jpg\" "\\"22-CornusSericea_BudsYellow_20220423_113958\\"")
<\/p>\n
Buds Yellow Cornus sericea<\/p>\n
Unofficially, there is another problem. I can get you #3 or #5 Cornus s. \u2018Baileyi\u2019 all day long. Nice full plants, foliage fairly clean, well maintained, and pruned accordingly for success. However, to get a native Cornus sericea, I have to go to smaller nurseries that specialize in native material. Typically, straight Cornus sericea is available in a #2 or #3 pot with a couple of sticks sticking out of the pot in all directions. It\u2019s hard for me to sell, and more importantly, really hard for you to sell. I understand and you do also, but know that if you want straight species, I am going to sell it to you \u2013 only because even though it may be 2 sticks in a pot it is rock solid hardy, and will grow up to be a nice 7-9\u2019 tall plant. It just doesn\u2019t start as pretty as \u2018Baileyi\u2019 or any other cultivars.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22-CornusKelsey_000_5291-2.jpg\" "\\"22-CornusKelsey_000_5291-2\\"")
<\/p>\n
Cornus sericea ‘Kelsy’<\/p>\n
Other sericea that are noteworthy are:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22-Cornus_IvoryHalo_000_1109.jpg\" "\\"22-Cornus_IvoryHalo_000_1109\\"")
<\/p>\n
Cornus Alba ‘Ivory Halo’<\/p>\n
Very closely related is Cornus alba \u2018Ivory Halo\u2019 or tartarian dogwood. These are not as aggressive as Cornus sericea cultivars can be. The stems get red but not as red as the \u201cRedtwigs\u201d, but the green and white variegated leaves are where it is at!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22_cornusarcticsun7249_0607.jpg\" "\\"22_cornusarcticsun7249_0607\\"")
<\/p>\n
Cornus sanguinea ‘Arctic Sun’<\/p>\n
Another closely related species is C. sanguinea \u201cBloodstems\u201d. Proven Winners\u00ae have some newer ones that are just starting to hit the market in quantities. We had a few here last year, but we will see more this year. \u2018Arctic Fire\u2019, \u2018Arctic Fire Yellow\u2019, and \u2018Arctic Fire Sun\u2019 all have a nice, rounded habit, get 3-4\u2019 x 3-4\u2019, and have bright red (or yellow) stems.<\/p>\n
There are many others on the market these days. Many are native to us or other parts of the states. We have our favorites and they have theirs.<\/p>\n
Before I go, I would like to go back to the natives for a minute.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/22-CornusMas_CornelianCherry_20240819_143909.jpg\" "\\"22-CornusMas_CornelianCherry_20240819_143909\\"")
<\/p>\n
Cornus mas Golden Glory<\/p>\n
There is one more Cornus I would like to add to this list. Not a shrub but maybe a small tree. Cornus mas ‘Golden Glory’. These fit into the world of Amelanchier and some \u2018Crabs\u2019 as an understory tree. They will be about 15-25\u2019 tall and 10-15\u2019 wide. They flower yellow in the early spring which is followed by a cherry-red berry. They can be treeform or shrubby form (my favorite). Want to know what they look like, come on over to the west side of the nursery and look at the front landscape. I didn\u2019t have room at home, so I made them plant one here for me to look at!<\/p>\n
No matter what Cornus you and your customers choose, I get people what they want. Sometimes it\u2019s an alphabetical list; sometimes a vision! Either way, I\u2019m here for you.<\/p>\n
Ps: There is a rather large elephant in the room while I talk about Shrubby Cornus. All \u201cdogs\u201d from the perennials to the trees have fungal leaf spot issues! Less sun, water on leaves, and tight space only exacerbate the issues.<\/p>\n
![\"Kim](\"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/KimRoth_2023.jpg\" "\\"KimRoth_2023\\"")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cornus (Dogwood) is not a species of plant that we put much thought into. Most of them sit in the background being the workhorses they are. Cornus are one the of the few species that cover all \u201ctypes\u201d of plants. From the 3\u201d perennial Cornus canadensis (\u201cBunchberry\u201d) to the shrubby \u2018Ivory Halo\u2019 types (many of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,6],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-8581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-112","category-plants","tag-kim-roth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8581"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8936,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8581\/revisions\/8936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christensensplantcenter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}