I've admired these for a long time, but never had any in our garden.

John - Pa. wrote in message
...
One of the things that I am pleased with in my garden is the red-twig
dogwood. One web site says;
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"This is a dogwood shrub with something of an identity crisis. On the
scientific side the currently accepted scientific name of this dogwood
is Cornus sericea. Although the name Cornus stolonifera is in wide
current use. Take your pick. Then on the common name side things get
crazy. There are at least 18 common names on the books for this
dogwood. They include Red Twig Dogwood, Redosier Dogwood, Western
Dogwood, American Dogwood, and Redstem Dogwood. However no matter what
you call this plant, it is an attractive landscaping plant, with deep
red stems and twigs for winter color, many creamy white flowers in the
spring followed by attractive white fruits, and spectacular maroon
fall leaves."
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I don't get many flowers or fruit because I cut these guys back to
within a few inches of the ground when they start to sprout in early
April. This is because the best winter color is obtained on "new"
growth. I also snip the shoots after the 2nd set of leaves to promote
bushiness. They grow vigorously and they reach to between 4 & 5ft by
mid summer (it takes a LOT of snipping to keep up with it - 2 or 3
times per week in June).

This planting is in the middle of my garden as a circle about 15ft in
diameter. I have 3 Cornus in each of 4 quadrants for a nice dense
effect. I also notice that the color seems to get brighter as the
weather gets colder. We can see this stand from our house all winter
and it adds a nice splash of color in the dreary months, especially
when there is a snow cover.

JD