Now In Bloom - Dogwoods

From ground-hugging Cornus canadensis to the tall and elegant Cornus nuttallii, our native dogwoods are elegant plants with their soft, snowy bracts surrounding greenish, purple tipped flowers. Dogwoods evolved along with indigenous people, who used their wood for tool handles, bows and arrows; and medicinally counted on the dogwood for help with stomach ailments, and to purify the blood. Unfortunately in recent years, the western or Pacific dogwood tree is being decimated by the fungal disease anthracnose, which kills it branch by branch.

Fortunately there are healthier alternatives, like Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder', which is a disease-resistant cross between Cornus nuttallii and Cornus florida. The flowers are larger (up to 4" across) than the native dogwood. It has red fall color and winter fruits to recommend it through the year, and is adaptable enough to serve as a street tree - busy Roy Street on lower Queen Anne is lined with dozens of  'Eddie's White Wonder' in full bloom at the moment. Another robust alternative is Cornus kousa, an Asian cousin which flowers a bit later, with an especially graceful shape and showy, edible fruit. C. kousa var. chinensis 'Milky Way' is a Great Plant Pick selection, ideal for our climate.

The photo below was taken at REI's Seattle store last week. You can see how the dogwood's pale blooms stand out like a beacon on a dark, rainy day.  I believe these dogwoods are Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder', which you can see blooming en mass right now at the Olympic Sculpture Park.  

Comments

[shary van]

Thanks for the suggestions to replace our Dogwood, which is diseased. We have two Dogwoods (50 ft tall native and a large pink dogwood). I think it's the Cornus nuttallii. Interesting that both Dogwoods bloomed this year at the same time. They have never been on the same clock and would bloom about a month apart; first time in over 10 years. Shary

[Ray Larson]

Hi Val,
You are right--the dogwoods at REI are 'Eddie's White Wonder'. I remember seeing the plant list when that garden was planted. But I have to disagree with you on the merits of that particular tree. I love dogwoods but really dislike 'Eddie's White Wonder' as the blooms look so artificial to me--the roundish blooms seem more like warped dinner plates than dogwood blooms, as they lack the pointed tips to the bracts. They bloom fairly heavily, but all of the round blobs make it look so unnatural, and not much like a dogwood at all. Plus they are becoming totally overplanted. Landscape architects in particular seem to love it for some reason. And it has always struck me as odd that a cross between C. nutallii and C. florida, two species that are very prone to anthracnose, would really produce a resistant cross. I wonder if it just because it is more vigorous grower (as a hybrid) and there aren't that many older trees. Anyway, I have nothing against hybrids in general, but there is something about 'Eddie's White Wonder' that drives me crazy. Just about any other dogwood is more appealing to me personally, and Cornus kousas are so delightfully variable from seed. UBC Botanic Garden in Vancouver has a great collection of mature trees grown from seed in their Asian woodland, and it really shows their remarkable variety in bloom size and quantity. I'm also interested in seeing how the "Stellar" crosses perform--they have just come on the market--these are crosses between C. nutallii and C. kousa, and are supposed to have better disease resistance than C. nutallii and large, but more naturally shaped, blooms. Anyway, there are still loads of great C. nuttalli in the north end of Seattle and most still bloom great even if they are declining. I think if folks manage to keep them happy (not stressed) in general, in many cases they are vigorous enough to live happily for quite a while.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Ray,
I love Cornus kousa too, but have to admit I like the showiness of 'Eddie's White Wonder'. The "Stellar" crosses are new to me - their parentage sounds ideal..are they generally available yet? Have you seen them in nurseries?
Val

[Matti]

I just came across your book from North Coast Gardening blog. Looks fantastic...I will check it out. Great pics of the dogwood. Matti

[Deborah Anderson]

What a great blog...definitely on my Favorites list.
Deborah

[Ray Larson]

HI Val,
The “Stellar” crosses were first developed at Rutgers University using C. kousa and C. florida. They have names like ‘Constellation’, ‘Aurora’ and ‘Stellar Pink’. They are sometimes listed as C. x rutgersensis. They are generally more vigorous and disease resistant than C. florida, and were intended as a substitute for that native east coast tree, which was really hit hard by anthracnose a few decades ago. The crosses I referred to above, between C. kousa and C. nutallii, are newer and are just becoming widely available in the last year or two. The most common is probably ‘Venus’ but ‘Starlight’ is also another one. Most larger nurseries probably have a few here and there in bigger sizes. ForestFarm also has small sizes available via mail order. They have large flowers, a bit gaudier than C. nutallii or C. kousa, but still seem less “unnatural” to me than ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’  Interestingly, ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ seems to get a fairly strong love/hate reaction for people. I know many people in both camps! A hybrid developed in Canada, it is planted ALL OVER Vancouver.
Ray