Red Barked Dogwood, Tatarian Dogwood 'Siberian Pearls'

One specimen of red osier dogwood grows well in full dappled shade under a silver maple. Plant has grown in three years to 5' x 5' and wi...Read Morell get a hard pruning next spring. Does well with minimum watering once established. Blooms are not showy, but an early April flush can be followed by additional bloom in June-July. Looks very much like a small dogwood C. florida through the summer. Fall color is muted.

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus alba or C. sericea) looks great in the winter landscape, which otherwise is quite dreary here in Ohio. Shortly after leaves drop, bark on all the first-year stems turn bright red or bright yellow (different varieties) and shows this color through the entire winter. Young stems absolutely gleam over several inches of snow. It's deer-resistant.

More information at http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?id=218

Can be propagated by layering low hanging branches. Spreads slowly outward from the original rootstock and multiple plants can fill in to form a hedge. Low spreading shrub can be pruned into a tree shape.

This selection is very similar to C. alba 'Siberica', except the winter twigs are a brighter shade of red. Summer foliage is plain green.