Sunday, May 04, 2008

Flowering dogwoods

I have fallen for flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida). I first saw one in flower a couple of weeks ago in Lowe's garden center. I didn't buy it because I hadn't planned where to put it. But it made me smile... and then I saw it being carried, proudly, to the checkout by another woman, beaming ear-to-ear.

There is something about these trees that make you smile.

They can be cream or pink. Mature specimens are about the size of an apple tree; not too tall, quite wide, curved canopy. They are just beautiful.

Have to work out where to plant one. The front garden would be ideal, but I don't think it drains well enough. Maybe to the right of the drive, if I promise to keep the undergrowth from re-invading?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

be careful..theres a disease that attacks most dogwoods native to LI. Best way to prevent this is to buy cornus kousa variety which is resistant to this disease. looks identical and flowers just as nice! might seem trivial difference, but well worth looking for if you are buying new plants!

Alison Toon Photographer said...

Thank you for the advice... darn, I already bought and planted one... hope it will be OK.