Dogwood

What is the hardiest dogwood? I had a beautiful pink one when I lived downstate that did great. I was in zone 5 there. I moved up north and I'm still in zone 5 but my local nurseryman told me dogwoods don't do well up here. He said they quit selling them because about 50% of them would die and it was costing them too much to replace them since they guarantee them.

I would at least like to try growing one but would like to select the most hardy one of all. What would that be?

Thank you for any help.

Brenda

Cornus florida should do just fine where you live.

There's a really interesting cultivar out there called 'Xanthocarpa'. The fruits are yellow.
http://davesgarden.com/ps/go/79199/

Thanks!

I tried to grow one of the variegated dogwoods when I lived downstate. I just loved that tree but for some reason every single one I bought (and I bought 3) would all just decline and die on me after a couple years. They just must not have liked my soil or something and I had very nice soil. Maybe they just aren't as hardy as their tags say they are. I don't know but I spent a fortune on it and finally gave up buying them.

I looked at your link to Forest Farms and they don't carry Xanthocarpa. Any other suggestions for a hardy variety of dogwood?

'Quilib is right that C. florida will be OK in zone 5; but to answer the technical question of the hardiest Cornus, I'd say C. suecica and C. alba, both hardy to zone 1 in Siberia.

Resin

Cornus Alterfolia many varieties, and C. Kousa 'Satomi' Do well here in Montana. 4b.

Aren't the albas and sericeas all shrubs? I want a tree, not a shurb. What is the hardiest of the dogwood trees?

Thanks Soferdig. I'll look those up.

The C. alternifolia has a different look to the flowers that isn't going to be like that pink dogwood you had at your old house that you described last year. The C. florida is hardy up into zone 4 which is within its native range so I suspect it will do better than just fine by you and it will have that singular flower look only in white. I really think you should try one of the C. suecica recommended by resin if you can get your hands on them. Now, where to buy them is a different story. I've tried to pick up a C. suecica when I remember to look for it and didn't have any luck. Yes, they're shrubs but they are so beautiful and a few planted together would look really nice in front of that big storage/pole barn structure of yours out back. I have my reservations recommending C. kousa for you based on prior posts of yours but it is attractive.

Forest Farm was selling the C. 'Xanthocarpa' so you might want to go straight to their website to see if they still have it if you are even interested. I think they were getting their stock from a grower in Wisconsin so it would have been hardy to where you live. You can always ask them where the plants in their inventory come from and they can usually tell you without having to look it up.

Forest Farm was selling the C. 'Xanthocarpa' so you might want to go straight to their website to see if they still have it if you are even interested. I think they were getting their stock from a grower in Wisconsin


I went to their website and they do not list Xanthocarpa. I guess they must have ran out of it or something.

Loon,

You could try 'Ozark Spring' which is supposed to be pretty hardy. 'Spring Grove' is another hardy one. There are some plant in the woods east and south of me (by about 2 hours) that may be good candidates for seed collection and trialing. In my spare time.........

Regards,
Ernie

I haven't a clue where to get it then. That's where I thought I bought mine from a few years ago.

Cornus 'Ozark Spring' looks really attractive and would be right up your alley.

Hate to insert this but does anyone know where to buy C. suecica?

Just an incentive with Cornus Alterfolia. My 4 year old Pagoda dogwood.

Cornus Alterfolia 'Argentea' not mine but one I bought from Gosslers.

Cornus Alterfolia 'Happy summer' Who needs flowers.

And my favorite hearty bloomer. Cornus Kousa 'Satomi' All of these but 'Happy summer' are over 3 years.

Forestfarm still has it on their PlantScout list (which was fairly recently updated), but it isn't among their main listings on their website.

That may mean they've recently dropped it, or they have only a few. If you're interested, you might contact them and see if they have some in stock ;o)

I was looking for Cornus suecica not C. sericea. I don't see that any nursery has a suecica listed. I'll go back and check one more time though.

One thing that I did notice is that they do have a few C. alternifolia listed. There's a silly typo above so when Loon went to go look, she might have cut and pasted the typo which would have meant she would have come up empty handed.

There are supposed to be some wild populations of Cornus florida in Michigan, and one about one third up the mitten. Those would probably be the most cold hardy. Otherwise, there is a cultivar called New Hampshire (and found wild in NH), that I expect would be the most cold hardy selected form. My friend gave up trying to find a source for it. I hear the Arnold Arboretum has a specimen or two.

I've seen a few C. florida in downeast Maine that I think were native. Zone 5