A TREE FOR SPRING AND FALL BEAUTY

Cornus Florida 'cherokee princess '

This beautiful American dogwood is in my neighborhood and I enjoy its beauty both in the Spring when it's covered with large pink blossoms and in its October red dress pictured above.

If memory serves I believe that Tennessee has been dubbed the Dogwood State . Actually the dogwood grows in abundance throughout the South and is a favorite tree for many.

When I first planted my garden in Chicago I chose two trees - the dogwood and a regular magnolia. The magnolia didn't survive the first winter but the dogwood did. Every Spring when it was time for it to bloom a hard freeze nipped it in the bud. It finally succumbed to disease.

Working in the tree department at our local garden center I learned that the American dogwood, had been improved to be more disease resistant and hardier for the Chicago winters.

The Asian dogwood varieties bloom later than our American ones and while not as showy, this can be a big plus for the late freezes that tend to affect the Spring blooming trees.