Dogwood question

I heard something today and don't know whether to believe it or not.

I have a small dogwood that I planted 3 years ago. It has grown and is about 7 ft tall, but has not bloomed and is putting out leaves now with no sign it intends to bloom this year.

I mentioned this to my neighbor and she said that dogwood won't bloom if there are no other dogwoods around. Is this true?

Deb

No, that is not true. Mine is the only one around here and it blooms every year. It sounds like you must have something lacking in your soil. See if there is someplace you can have it checked. Call a nursery and ask them. We have one that has a radio show on AM radio. You can call them and ask them anything. I don't if you can get it. I just remembered they are now on FM. 106.3 I hope this helps.
Smokey

Thanks, Smokey. It sounded odd to me, and I thought I'd have heard this before it was true. Yeah, could be the soil because it's in an otherwise ideal location. Thanks for your help!
Deb

Deb,
I am surprised that your dogwood does not bloom but looking at the Clemson web site, I was surprised at them saying some will not bloom on the SC coast from Charleston to Savannah. We are 12 miles from the coast and this town is covered in dogwoods. I have five 50 year old white dogwoods in my yard and also two pink that bloom every year. Check this website out and see if it is of any help to you.

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/trees/hgic1010.html

I will check that, BSD, thanks. Our town is full of dogwoods, (I can see several out my office window right now!) but there are very few in my neighborhood.

I have a couple of natives, bought as 24" seedlings that were grown from seed collected at the Old Sheldon Church ruins and they have never bloomed for me. I planted these about 8 years ago and I have never seen a flower although the gentleman I bought them from says they bloom everywhere else. Maybe it is the soil???

Maybe it is the soil. Alice, I know that you've said you have pretty neutral soil, and I have very acid soil and mine are all blooming. Mine reseed like crazy, too. I have baby dogwoods popping up all over.

Speaking of dogwoods, I was at Wal-mart the other day and on my way out they had a nice sized Cornus florida "Rubra" for $20. It was nicely shaped and about 5' tall. So, I thought, why not? I'll give it a shot.

Have any of you noticed that almost all nursery trees are in their pots wrong? This dogwood was about 2" too deep, so by the time I took it out of it's pot and fixed it, it only had about 3" of soil and roots! You kind of expect it from Wal-mart, but the more expensive nurseries are like that, too. I bought a pretty ginkgo last year, and it had the same problem. I hear that's a big problem with tree death, they're planted too deep. But, heck, if they start out in their pots too deep how are most people going to know?

The new buzz word seems to be "Root Flare"; if you can''t see it the tree is planted too deep. Recently I heard Walter Reeves talking about how many commercial nurseries are potting up plants without regard for the root flare. I guess it is easier to just dump a plant from a quart pot into a gallon and fill it up with soil.

You might be right Alice.

yup, check your soil. Dogwoods are very wild here, and with all our pines and oaks, our soil is acidic. but get a soil test before you do anything else

we can take soil samples to our local county extension lab and have them tested (once) for free. multiple tests cost a nominal amount. we live in the city and can still do this.

Our soil is acid, so I don't think my little Dogwood's issue is soil. It suppose it could be lack of enough water its first year. That was pretty severe drought time. I watered it, but maybe not enough?
Deb

our dogwoods grow naturally as understory trees, so they get a heavy natural mulch from the oaks and pine droppings. I've noticed dogwoods that seem to grow well are often mulched heavily. anyone know if this might be what she needs?

Don't think so, bon jon. Dogwoods are fussy plants down here. I've planted dozens over the years, in "ideal" conditions (except for the pH---I've got alkaline soil). All were mulched carefully. Some with mushroom compost, some with aged horse manure, some with straight cypress mulch. All were routinely treated with aluminum sulphate to bring the pH down to reasonable levels. They all crumped. Deb mulches everything, so I'm sure her Dogwood was properly mulched. It's got to be something in the soil itself, but hers is acid, mine is alkaline; trace elements all well above minimum yet neither of us seem to have much luck with this tree. I think it's a true "borderline" tree for the coastal south. If soil conditions and micro climate are absolutely perfect (and you hold your mouth just right), you MIGHT be able to coax one to survive. I quit. I've got 3 still "growing", but I won't plant another when these 3 die... Some things just don't like the coastal south. Of all the Cornus, only C. florida is recommended for this area by Southern Living Guide, and all I've planted have been C. florida. Still nothing. Much as I love them, I quit.

well, i've always had problems getting dogwoods to grow in full sun for me.

It is strange that the ones that do grow along the coast do not seem to mind being in a sunny location. I would suspect they do not like the salty soil or air down here but Deb should not have either in Summerville. It's a puzzlement for sure.

It might be like my hydrangeas. Acidic soil growing under pine trees and they turn out with reddish flowers. They should be blue. I read an article that explained why that was and it made prefect sense at the time, something about the aluminum not being absorbed because something else was preventing it. I should have bookmarked that. It was somewhere on DG and it was very complicated as why the flowers turned what ever color they were going to change. Let me see if I can find it.

Got a little off subject there. Whole point is the dogwoods very well may be having a soil related problem that would be hard to figure out.

Well, I suppose I could contact the extension office and see if they have any ideas about the soil, Core. Suppose other factors other than acidity could be in play.

My little tree is in a supposedly "ideal" spot under dappled high shade of some pines. Plenty of mulch. There are dogwoods all over the place within a few 10ths of a mile that are blooming like crazy.

Only other think I can possibly think of is that I stunted its development during that first nasty drought summer buy not making sure it had enough water. (and didn't hold my mouth right ;-> ).

Appreciate all the input, folks!
Deb

Oh yeah, I forgot about that mouth thing; that must be what's wrong with mine. LOL

I don't know about you folks, but I can't remember the last year I saw the dogwoods bloom so prolifically. It must be the extra water this year (as of late anyway) - my folks yard is covered with them and driving down the road in Irmo is just white yard after white yard with Dogwood blooms this year. Very strange compared to the last few years I can remember.

This is interesting because I have had the same problem with a what was labeled a pink dogwood purchased at one of the box stores about 4 years ago. It has grown beautifully, but with very few blossoms, though all other dogwood trees in the area are loaded. Keonikale, I was surprised to learn that trees in the Columbia area are already bloomed out. Buds are just beginning to swell in this area just 40 miles away. Amazing how much difference just a few degrees makes, but yes the promise seems bright for all trees but mine.

I didnt read the whole thread - my apologies if I missed this in my skimming: My mom has had a dogwood in the woods behind her house since she moved it - it is a native dogwood and was naturally planted there - it did not bloom until this yea(that's more than ten years with no blooms) - we figure that it in this case it was not getting enough sun! It was back int eh woods too far for it to get the needed sun it required to bloomed - when she lost a cedar in front of it - wow!!!

Debin, sorry for your problem with your dogwood, but I'm really glad you started this thread.

A number of years ago, I planted tiny seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation, two of which were Cornus florida. Neither one has flowered much, but now that one has gotten tall enough for the upper branches to reach the sunshine, it will bloom -- but only after the leaves have begun to emerge, diminishing the effect. (The other tree is stunted from having been moved a few times and blooms only fitfully.)

Both trees are in the high dappled shade from a pine tree, which I long to have removed. No matter how careful I am with watering, the dogwoods' leaves scorch, sooner or later, in the heat. I've assumed that they're more suited to Nebraska than South Carolina since that's where they were born.

In the meantime, my next-door neighbor mocks me by managing to grow lovely dogwoods, despite a very casual attitude toward gardening.

Dogwoods are certainly in their glory right now. There are dogwoods blooming well in wooded areas in the parks in our neighborhood where they receive no attention at all, except for folks like me gawking in amazement, that is.

I was paying special attention when I drove home for lunch after replying ot this thread and noted all the dogwoods in bloom... I also realized all the blooming dogwoods are at the edge of the woods... there were very few further in that were blooming and those seemed to have sun shinning on them at the time I drove by - maybe they need direct sun but for only a short period of time around here???

DebinSC - I wish you the best of luck with yours!!

I have two dogwoods that were just sticks out of the woods many years ago. They get full sun most of the day and we have very acidic soil in our area. The dogwoods, azaleas and hydrangeas love it!! Just like Bordersandjacks....I get babies popping up everywhere. If you travel the Colonial Parkway up to Williamsburg and Jamestown, the wild dogwoods are georgous!!

Pictures of my two in the front yard.

How beautiful! I just returned from a trip to the northeast and the prettiest dogwoods and other spring flowers I saw were in SE Virginia.

Hope you made out OK with the storms today, we skirted the western edge of the storm and it looked horrible.

FlipFlops, those are soooo pretty! Sigh.

Well, there is one pine that provides some of the shade of the area where my dogwood is, that is a bit poorly due to a long ago lightening strike. If it should succumb, perhaps that tiny bit of additional sun will do the trick. Otherwise, I live and hope. :)
Having said that, the azaleas that are all around in there are blooming like mad!

Deb

ardesia, we had a tornado watch and some real downpours at times but the sun came out around 1:00 pm and the day was beautiful. Soon we will be moving down close to your part of the world. We are building a retirement home in Brunswick GA and frequent your area because my brother has a house in Oldfield near Bluffton. I love the lowcountry!!

Welcome to the LC, or should I say the Golden Isles. :-) You'll love it down here and your brother lives in a beautiful place too.

Yes, ardesia, I am really looking forward to it. I will probably need your help when I start my LC garden.....can't wait. Do you ever go to Barbara Jean's on Lady's Island???

Golden Isles? Did I not get the memo on the new name??? I always thought the Low Country was pretty specific to where we are.

LOL, help and lots of plant starts will be on the way!

Paraphrased from a tourist brochure - the GA coast below Savannah is known as the Golden Isles because the miles of marsh grass looks like gold in the sunshine at certain times of the year.

CoreHHI...you are right. I was using LC loosely because it is so low and marshy (sp) LOL It is the Golden Isles where we will be moving. All of it from Charleston south is so beautiful to me with the marshes, cabbage palms and live oaks with spanish moss. I love the wildlife there to and all the beautiful wading birds. We are in the same zone so I will need all the help I can get from my LC and Golden Isles DG'ers when I start my landscaping and gardening. I do want sagos!!! :.-)

Point of order! The LC extends all the way up to Murrells Inlet. It's elevation, not latitude. :) I grew up in Georgetown and we were definitely in the low country. There was a miles wide marsh 200 yards from my front door.

We were always kinda sensitive about it cause of the Charlestonians claiming the name as their own. ;->

Deb

I learned that the LC also extends south to Jacksonville. The reason the St. Johns River runs north is supposed to be because central FL, where it originates, is higher land and the river runs down to the low point which is JAX.

Since I have never lived in that area, I have never really researched all that includes the LC. All I know is South Carolina and Georgia on the coast from south of Myrtle Beach looks low to me LOL It all looks very beautiful, lush and full of intriging (sp) tales and wonderful friendly folks. I just can't wait to become a part of it. My parents lived in Sumter, SC at one time but I know that's not LC. It still is beautiful in it's own way. My DH and I once visited Summerville too and it was very beautiful too! In fact I took pictures of a LC home with the ferns hanging on the verandas. Also went to Bluffton and took a picture of a lovely historical church by the May River. Can't remember the name of the church. Anyway.....I am counting on y'all to familiarize me with coastal southern gardening. Just think...this all started with dogwoods. We need to start a new LC tread!!!

I stand corrected!!! A LC and GI tread!!

LOL. Whatever it's called, FF, I agree that it's a great place to be. :)

Debin, You lived in G'town and your house was 200 yards from the marsh? Are we talking about the boulevard or Bayview area? Can you tell I was raised in G'town?
It is still a beautiful town. My husbands mother had a boarding house on Highmarket St. which they later sold and it was turned into a B&B and called the 1790 House. My family lived in the Bayview area.