March 2009 Plant of the Month —
Japanese Cornel Dogwood

Submitted by Susan Hamilton

When you hear of dogwood, most of us think of our native flowering dogwood tree (Cornus florida). But truth be told, there are many different types of dogwood, about 30-50 species!  Most are deciduous shrubs and trees; some species are herbaceous perennial plants; and a few of the woody species are evergreen. One of my favorite types of dogwood is the Japanese Cornel Dogwood.

Japanese Cornel Dogwood is really underused in the landscape, and it is a beautiful winter- flowering tree. Native to China, Japan and Korea, Cornus officinalis usually grows as a large, spreading, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub to a small tree up to 15-25 feet tall. In late January into February small but showy clusters of yellow flowers bloom. These blooms are followed in fall by showy red fruits (drupes) that are technically edible but most would find them astringent.

The variable fall foliage colors for Japanese Cornel Dogwood range from pale yellow to reddish-purple. I think the exfoliating bark is colorful with rich grays, browns and oranges. It is a truly unique feature of this dogwood.

A deciduous dogwood, Japanese Cornel Dogwood is effective in foundations, shrub borders, woodland gardens, bird gardens or naturalized areas. The Japanese Cornel Dogwood resembles and should not be confused with Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry Dogwood).  Note that Japanese Cornel Dogwood grows with a slightly more open habit, flowers one week earlier, and has more attractive bark than Cornelian Cherry Dogwood.

Japanese Cornel Dogwood prefers full sun to partial shade and tolerates a range of soil types. Two great cultivars are ‘Sunsphere’ which flowers earlier than others in the species, and ‘Kintoki’ which produces a heavier bloom. Tennessee nursery owner and UT Horticulture alumnus Mike Stansberry, introduced the ‘Sunsphere’ selection named after the Knoxville sunsphere which was constructed as part of the 1982 World's Fair. East Tennessee is home to Stansberry’s nursery, Beaver Creek Nursery. 

Susan Hamilton is an associate professor of horticulture in the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences. She is also director of the UT Gardens. The UT Gardens are open public gardens that serve the public horticulture teaching and research needs of the UT Institute of Agriculture and the UT AgResearch program. Locations include Knoxville and Jackson. For more information see the Web site: http://utgardens.tennessee.edu

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Contact:

Susan Hamilton, Department of Plant Sciences,
(865) 974-7324