The Wilson Display Garden, located at the Agricultural Center at 1806 South Goldsboro Street, is still looking good during this dreary, wet and cold winter days. This is your idea garden to give you an indication of what your home landscape can be.

This month the plant that got my attention is Cornus serica or Redosier Dogwood (also know as Red Twig Dogwood). Of course you are familiar with the spring blooming dogwood but the Redosier dogwood is know more for it's lovely stem color. Red or yellow stem color of the Redosier dogwood can brighten up the winter landscape.

This plant transplants readily from a container, ball and burlapped or even bare root and is adaptable to a variety of soil and climatic conditions. It does well in moist soils and in the wild goes in swampy conditions. Redosier dogwood does best in full sun to develop the blood-red or sunshine yellow stems. Wilson is the southern extreme of this plant but still worth a try in the southern garden.

Clusters of tiny white flowers appear in the spring and will continue to bloom sporadically through the summer. The flowers are attractive but do not make a dramatic display. The fruits are a white drupe and usually go unnoticed. This dogwood has a purple to red fall color but can be variable.

Redosier dogwood can create interest with its colorful stems in the winter garden and is quite showy in front of evergreen plantings. The plant habit is a multi-stem spreading shrub, vase-like shape and matures at 7-9 feet.

Like our native dogwood the Redosier dogwood can suffer from cankers, leaf spots, and scale insects. Cankered stems can be removed and discarded to keep the rest of the plant healthy.

This plant can be used in mass plantings and on hillsides where erosion is a problem. Many cultivars of Redosier dogwoods are available such as 'Cheyenne' a red form or 'Flaviramea' a yellow form. 'Silver and Gold' has a variegated leaf with yellow stem color.

Redosier dogwood is sometimes confused with and sold as Cornus alba, Tatarian Dogwood. They are very similar in winter appearance. Tatarian is a slower spreader than Redosier and may be more desirable in a small home landscape. So it may benefit you to buy this plant from a reputable nursery with properly labelled plants if one species is desired over the other.

Redosier dogwood is a very handsome plant year-round and a worthwhile plant in the garden.

Take a walk through the Wilson Display Garden this winter and see both the sunshine yellow stems and the blood-red stems of Redosier dogwood.

Date Created: 12/06/00.