Tree · Cornaceae
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida
Hand it part shade and moist, acidic soil, and the flowering dogwood pays you back with spring bracts and red autumn fruit.
Partial shade
Every 5–10 days
USDA 5–9
15–30 ft · 4.6–9.1 m
Overview
Flowering dogwood ranks among the signature small trees of eastern North America, the sort that sets the spring woods aglow with wide white blooms. Out in the wild it lives as an understory tree, tucking in below taller oaks and pines where light filters down dappled and the soil holds cool and moist. That single habit hands you nearly the whole playbook for growing it well.
The celebrated spring display pulls off a clever bit of sleight of hand. Those four big white parts that read as petals are actually bracts, modified leaves folded around a cluster of tiny true flowers at the heart. They unfurl in April and May, sometimes ahead of the leaves, and the tree chases them with clusters of bright red fruit from August into October that birds strip away in a hurry.
Call it a moderate tree to grow, because it asks a lot of its site and leans toward a handful of diseases once stressed. Nail the spot, shading it from the harshest afternoon sun and giving it ground that drains yet never bakes, and it eases into a long, unhurried life. Force it into hot, dry, compacted soil and you summon the very troubles that cut its years short.
Care
The short version: part shade with cover from harsh afternoon sun, moist and acidic well-drained soil, a 2 to 4 inch mulch to keep the roots cool, and a watchful eye for anthracnose through cool, damp seasons.
Light
Born an understory tree, it gravitates toward part shade and savors a reprieve from the hot afternoon glare. Cooler regions or a steady supply of moisture let it manage full sun, though a baking, exposed corner piles on stress and swings the door open to disease.
Water
Hold the soil consistently moist, because this tree has zero patience for drought, heat, or packed ground. Soak it deeply through dry spells and spread 2 to 4 inches of mulch to lock in moisture and keep the shallow roots cool.
Soil
Set it into rich, acidic, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter folded in. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 keeps it happy, and ground that drains freely while never drying out hits the sweet spot.
Temperature
It stays hardy across a broad swing, running from about -20°F to 100°F (-29°C to 38°C), which spans icy winters and scorching summers alike. Heat carries more menace than cold, since a tree parched and stressed by heat is the first one disease zeros in on.
Humidity
Everyday outdoor humidity does the job with no fussing at all. Airflow counts for far more than any reading on a meter, because stagnant, crowded conditions surrounding the branches are exactly what give anthracnose and mildew their opening.
Feeding
Feed it once in early spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer built for acid-loving plants. Keep the nitrogen modest, because a surge of soft growth is precisely the meal anthracnose craves.
Pruning
Prune through late fall or winter, with the tree fully dormant, clearing out dead, diseased, or cankered wood plus any water sprouts. Work with a careful hand and steer clear of nicking the bark, since a fresh wound is the very gateway borers slip through.
Repotting
Being a landscape tree, it rarely needs repotting. If you're raising a young one in a container, step it up only once roots begin circling the surface or the pot runs dry fast after each watering.
Size & spacing
A grown flowering dogwood climbs to 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) tall and spreads roughly that far across. Hand it the full 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) of open ground so the canopy can breathe and disease finds less to grab onto.
When to plant
Flowering dogwood keeps pace with the rhythm of the temperate woods. The bracts open across April and May, the red fruit colors up from August into October, and your best window to settle a new tree into the ground is spring or fall while it rests dormant.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Not typically started indoors; seed is sown outdoors in fall or stratified at about 41 degrees F for up to 120 days before spring sowing
- Plant: Spring or fall while dormant
- Harvest: April to May (showy white bracts before or with leaf emergence); red fruit August to October
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every dogwood headache circles back to a stressful site, and the leaves usually flag it well before the damage reaches the wood. Spot it early, above all through a cool, wet spring, and you can usually stop a small flare from climbing toward the trunk. Match the symptoms you're seeing below, then act while action still counts.
Leaves go blotchy and droop, then sunken cankers carve into the trunk
What you're seeing is dogwood anthracnose, the heaviest hitter this tree contends with, and it bites hardest where the air stays cool, damp, and shaded. The trouble opens on the bottom leaves with tan spots edged in purple, then marches up into the twigs and trunk as cankers that can ring a tree and finish it off. Cut cankered wood away in dry weather, sweep up dropped leaves, open the canopy to move air through, and reach for a labeled fungicide from bud break onward wherever the danger sits high.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy dead and cankered wood during dry summer weather
- Remove water sprouts and rake and dispose of fallen leaves
- Improve air circulation and avoid excess nitrogen
- Apply a labeled fungicide (chlorothalonil, mancozeb, propiconazole, or copper) from bud break through new growth in high-risk sites
Leaves redden early, bark peels, and sawdust gathers near holes on the trunk
These signs point straight to the dogwood borer, a larva that bores in under the bark, usually sneaking through a wound. Keep an eye out for peeling bark and sawdust-like frass on the trunk and the bigger branches, because a young tree can be lost within a season or two. Keep it vigorous and well watered, guard the bark against mower and trimmer nicks, and brush a labeled permethrin onto the trunk starting in early May.
Fix:
- Keep trees healthy with proper watering and fertilization
- Avoid bark wounds from lawn equipment
- Apply labeled permethrin to trunk and major branches beginning in early May, repeating per label
A chalky white film coats the leaves and the edges scorch
A powdery white dusting across the fresh growth flags powdery mildew, which moves in wherever shade runs deep and air goes stagnant. Leaf edges turn brown and a few leaves drop ahead of schedule, yet the tree generally pulls through just fine. Open up the canopy and the plantings around it to start air flowing, then put down a labeled fungicide the moment those first patches surface.
Fix:
- Thin canopy and surrounding plantings to improve air circulation
- Apply a labeled fungicide (myclobutanil, propiconazole, sulfur, or copper) early when symptoms first appear
Tiny purple-rimmed dots stipple the bracts and the young leaves
A scatter of small tan spots circled in reddish purple across the spring bracts is spot anthracnose, which kicks off when the weather turns wet. It looks scruffy and can pucker the bracts, yet it almost never leaves any lasting mark on the tree. Open the canopy for airflow, reach for resistant varieties, and in rough years spray a labeled fungicide every 10 to 14 days from bud break through leaf expansion.
Fix:
- Thin the canopy to improve air circulation
- Plant resistant varieties
- Apply a labeled fungicide every 10 to 14 days from bud break through leaf expansion in severe cases
Toxicity
Welcome news for a home full of animals: flowering dogwood is not toxic. The ASPCA leaves it off the lists of plants that poison cats or dogs, and it carries no real threat to other pets, livestock, or people. The red fruit runs bitter, so packing away a lot of it might stir a mild stomach ache, yet nothing in the tree is dangerous.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
Flowering dogwood does not appear on the ASPCA toxic list for cats, so a curious nibble gives you nothing to fret over. Like any plant, a cat that wolfs down a pile of leaves may bring them back up, yet the tree itself holds no poison.
Dogs Safe
Dogs come out fine here as well, since the tree skips the ASPCA toxic list entirely. A hearty mouthful of bark or fruit might hand a dog a brief upset stomach, but no lasting harm waits behind it.
Horses Safe
Horses can graze right alongside a dogwood and stay safe. Nothing toxic sits in the leaves or twigs, and the tree has no track record of troubling grazing animals.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble the foliage without worry. Not a thing in the plant poisons them, though a rabbit thrives best on its usual hay and greens rather than a diet of tree leaves.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep run no risk from a dogwood standing in or beside the pasture. Counted as non-toxic, the tree leaves an animal that strips a few low branches none the worse for it.
Birds Safe
Birds flock to the bright red fruit and devour it freely, and that very habit carries the seeds far and wide. Those berries make a welcome meal, never any kind of hazard.
People Safe
The plant carries no poisoning risk for people. Its red fruit tastes bitter, so packing away a lot of it can bring on a mild stomach ache, yet nothing about the tree is dangerous.
No special toxicity handling required; as with any plant, discourage pets from chewing large amounts of foliage or fruit.
Varieties
Most dogwoods on the shelves are named cultivars, selected for bract color, fuller bloom, or disease resistance. Here are a few well worth knowing.
Cherokee Chief
Swaps the everyday white for deep rosy-red bracts that pop against the fresh spring green.
Cherokee Princess
A reliable, heavy bloomer that loads itself early with big white bracts.
Cloud 9
Buried under white flowers and eager to bloom strongly even while still young.
Appalachian Spring
A white-bracted pick valued for shrugging off dogwood anthracnose.
How to propagate
Three routes will give you more flowering dogwoods, and the one to pick turns on whether matching a named cultivar matters to you.
SeedModerate
Sow in fall, or stratify cleaned seed at about 41 degrees F for up to 120 days then sow in spring · Germinates the following spring; some seed delays to the second year
Each seed packs a built-in dormancy that only a cold stretch unlocks. Plant cleaned seed outside in fall, or give it a chill at around 41°F (5°C) for up to 120 days and sow come spring, and it pushes up the next spring, with a portion waiting until year two. One trade-off to expect: seedlings come out mixed, so they won't match a named cultivar.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood cuttings in summer · Several weeks to root; cuttings from young trees root and grow better than those from mature trees
Snip softwood cuttings through summer, or take hardwood cuttings across winter. Roots form within a few weeks, and cuttings drawn from young trees root and thrive well beyond anything pulled off old wood.
GraftingDemanding
Dormant season grafting or budding · One or more growing seasons to establish
Here is the route nurseries lean on to hold a named cultivar true. Grafting or budding through the dormant season locks the bract color and disease resistance in place, and the young tree wants a season or more to find its feet.
Myths
Flowering dogwood does best in full, hot sun like most flowering trees.
Picture a native understory tree, because that is what this is, and it craves part shade over moist, acidic, organically rich ground. Drought, heat, and packed-down soil all wear on it, and a tree roasting in a hot, dry corner grows stressed fast. A stressed dogwood is far more likely to fall to disease, which puts the site you choose right at the top of the list.
The big white petals of a dogwood bloom are its real flowers.
Those four eye-catching white parts everyone fawns over are no petals whatsoever. They are bracts, modified leaves, and the genuine flowers hide as the little yellowish-green clusters bunched at the center.