This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Sunday 10 October 2010

Dogwood is barking red...

Photo taken 10 Oct 2010.
Almost all the leaves have fallen.
Shrubtastic dogwood looks best in Autumn and Winter. Its leaves are green in Summer, changing to colourful red leaves in Autumn. Finally its looses its leaves completely in Oct - leaving bright red stems that look fab throughout Winter. Wish I had a few more in the garden! Landscapers often group 3 or more of these in borders for a dramatic effect.

Variety: Dogwood Red Stemmed. Cornus alba 'Sibirica'.
Photo taken 3 Oct 2010.
Photo taken 2 Sept 2010.
In Summer, the leaves are completely green.

4 comments:

  1. Hah! We'll have to have a contest of the Dogwoods! Their colours in Winter are really spectacular, when everything else is drab. I have 5 different ones in my garden. The leaves on mine are only just beginning to drop, but once they start it won't take long. My favourite one is the one with "acid yellow" leaves in summer and bright red stems in Winter. (Almost like Buy one, get one free!)

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  2. Thanks for your comment Mark. Hope you'll be posting your dogwood collection on your blog soon. It'd be good to see pics of the yellowed leaved one as I'm tempted to add a few to the garden this year.

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  3. I'd love to have a tall vase full of the red stems in my living room right now! So airy and colorful.

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  4. Great idea Karen. I hadn't thought of them going into arrangements but they'd look fab! In Spring all the red twigs get cut down so new growth can come up - I'll have to use some in flower arranging.

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