Flowering Dogwood, found throughout all of Ohio and the entire eastern half of the United States, is one of the most popular ornamental trees, with four-season appeal. Showy early spring flowers are the yearly highlight, but red fruits and crimson foliage in autumn, large floral buds and checkered bark in winter, and year-round layered branching add to its appeal.

Historically, the hard, close-grained wood of Flowering Dogwood was used to make shuttles for weaving in the textile industry. As an understory and woodland edge tree, its early spring blossoms stand out in forests before the leaves take over. It may also be found as a single or multi-trunked tree in open fields, where it may reach 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. As a member of the Dogwood Family, it is related to the many other species of Dogwoods, and distantly related to Black Tupelo.

Planting Requirements - Flowering Dogwood strongly prefers evenly moist, well-drained, fertile, deep soils of acidic pH, in partial sun. It grudgingly adapts to lesser conditions, and in urban environments it often is sited in poor, dry, rocky, clay soils of alkaline pH, in full sun. Under such conditions it may become weak and stunted, and be much more prone to attack by diseases and pests. It is found in zones 5 to 9, in full sun to full shade.

Potential Problems - Flowering Dogwood suffers tremendously from a number of pathogens and pests. The most important diseases are leaf and stem anthracnose (a serious and often fatal problem in the northeastern United States), leaf powdery mildew (mostly a cosmetic concern), and trunk canker (which will sometimes kill individual trunks, or cause large wounds that are slow to heal).

The most important pest is the dogwood borer, which can kill trees outright, especially those under stress (as in severe drought to established trees, but more commonly newly transplanted trees that are not adequately watered). Siting new seedlings, saplings, or large balled and burlapped trees in deep, acidic soils with supplemental organic matter that aids in good drainage, and keeping the tree watered for the first two years of its establishment do wonders for tree health.

Flowering Dogwood has leaves that are opposite, ovate to elliptical, with veins that run parallel to the smooth, often wavy leaf margins.

Usually by mid-summer, dry conditions have caused the leaf margins to curl, revealing the lower sides of the leaves which are distinctly white to silver. Autumn coloration is often brilliant, being red-yellow, red-purple, crimson, or brick red.