With a handsomely structured, tiered branching habit, pagoda dogwood is also well known for its clusters of tiny white flowers that yield purple fruits on pink-red stalks. A deciduous small tree or often multistemmed large shrub, it hails from eastern North America from New Brunswick and Minnesota southward to Alabama. With a smooth gray trunk, it has much showier deep purple-brown young twigs and branches.
The glossy leaves are rounded oval with a pointed tip and depressed, nearly parallel veins. They are medium green to slightly yellow-green and alternate on the stems (as compared to the typical matching pairs of dogwoods). In late spring and early summer, squatted round clusters of tiny white flowers appear along stems across the entire plant. The flower stalks lengthen after insect pollination, become dark rosy-red and support small round fruits that are cream, then red and finally dark purple-black when ripe just afer midsummer. The fruits do not persist, but the showy fruit stalks do. In autumn the foliage can flush red-purple with yellow, but it is not an outstanding display.
Wonderful as an accent in a mixed border, a lawn specimen or as a foundation plant that will soften the corners of a building with ease. (info source: Learn2Grow.com)
Genus - Cornus
Species - Alternifolia
Common name - Pagoda Dogwood
Pre-Treatment - Required
Hardiness zones - 4 - 8
Height - 18'-22' / 5.50 - 7 m
Spread - 16'-20' / 5 - 6 m
Plant type - Tree
Vegetation type - Deciduous
Exposure - Partial Sun, Partial Shade
Growth rate - Medium
Soil PH - Acidic
Soil type - Clay, Loam
Water requirements - Average Water
Care level - Easy
Landscape uses - Feature Plant, Foundation, Mixed Border
Germination rate - 82%
Bloom season - Late Spring, Early Summer
Leaf / Flower color - Green / White, Ivory
Useful Info | |
Germination | 1. Soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours. 2. Fill a nursery flat or other germination container, to within 1/2 inch of the rim, with a sterile germinating mix. Moisten the mix thoroughly. 3. Sow the seeds ~2 mm deep in the mix. Moisten the seeds and place the flat in a cold frame or in the refrigerator at +2-+4C for 90 days. Keep the seeds moist during this period. 4. Remove the flat from the refrigerator and place it in an area with indirect sunlight and where the temperature remains between +15-+20 C (60-68 F). 5. Keep in good ventilated room or place. Good air circulation is required. 5. Spray the seeds periodically with room-temperature water from a misting bottle to ensure they remain moist. Seeds typically germinate within 20 days to three months. |