Image sourced from Flickr/Ryan Somma
There are plants that are really amazing, that can leave us speechless at any time of the year. One of those is the cornus florida, a kind of tree that produces numerous flowers, so many that it seems that it wants to hide its leaves behind its petals.
The most interesting of all is not its ornamental value, but also how resistant it is and how easy it is to maintain, even in a pot.
What is its origin and its characteristics?
It is a magnificent deciduous tree (sometimes shrub) native to eastern North America, from Maine to Florida in the United States, and eastern Mexico. It is known as flowery dogwood or flowery leech. Carlos Linnaeus was described and published in Species Plantarum in the year 1753.
If we talk about its characteristics, it grows at a good pace until reach a height between 5 and 10 meters. Its crown is usually wide, about 3-6 meters, with a trunk thickness of up to 30cm. Its leaves grow in the opposite way, and are simple, 6 to 13cm long by up to 6cm wide. These are usually green, but in the fall they turn reddish before falling.
Flowerswho are bisexual and sprout in spring (around the month of April in the northern hemisphere) they are grouped in very dense umbels, with around 20 flowers made up of four white bracts (modified leaves, often mistakenly called petals).
The fruit is a cluster of about ten drupes, 10-15mm long. They ripen in late summer, acquiring a reddish color. They are edible for many birds.
What care do you need to live?
In order to enjoy this beauty in the garden or on the patio, it is very important to bear in mind that can be both in the sun and in semi-shade, but if the climate is rather warm, it will require protection against the king star, otherwise its leaves could burn.
It does not have invasive roots, but as its crown is wide it is advisable to plant it at least 4 meters from walls, walls and other plants that are high, in acidic and well-drained lands. Thus, the cornus florida It will grow freely and you will be able to contemplate it in all its splendor as it grows.
Irrigation has to be moderate. It does not resist drought, but it does not resist waterlogging either. So, in principle, with about 4 waterings a week in summer and about 2/week the rest of the year, it will be fine. Use rainwater or no lime.
Finally, say that it multiplies by seeds in spring, which germinate in about three weeks as long as they are sown in a seedbed outside. Resists frosts down to -18ºC.
Hello Monica.
The species is splendid, and the truth is that it is not very common to see. We have one with a white flower and another with a red flower (the bracts, of course)
I have a question: When we bought them (two years ago), they were like two bushes, will they grow into a tree, or will they be like bushes all their lives?
The truth is that the color of the bracts (white and pink respectively) is wonderful, as is the maroon color of the leaves in autumn.
We have an American red oak, could you enlighten us on the species?
Sincerely,
GALANTE NACHO
Hello Nacho!
Most likely, they remain halfway between a bush and a tree, but it all depends on whether they are in the ground or in a pot, and if they are in the ground, how deep and fertile they are. For example, if it is deep and fertile, they are more likely to be small trees than shrubs; otherwise they will stay more "small".
Regarding your request, yes of course. Let's see if I can write it this week. Precious tree is the American red oak.
Greetings.
Hello Monica.
The soil is deep and fertile, and we also fertilize it every year with various types of fertilizer. From what you say, we can have little trees!
Thank you very much for your help and your interesting articles!
Greetings,
GALANTE NACHO
This year the bracts have not come off and they are not going to come off because the leaves have already sprouted and it is the first year that something has happened to it, someone can know the reason.
Thank you
Hi Javier.
Have you checked for any pests? If it didn't have any, it probably lacks some nutrient, like phosphorus and/or potassium. Both are essential for proper flowering.
In nurseries, amazon, etc., they sell specific fertilizers that stimulate flowering, such as this.
Greetings.
Hi Monica, how are you? I tell you that I am from Uruguay and I got cornus florida seeds to germinate but I have been trying for more than a year and nothing. I followed the steps as I read on the Internet about the stratification of the seed, leave it in water for a couple of days, put it in the refrigerator for about 4 months in a tray with soil, then take it out and when that came, spring and then summer and nothing. I thought the seeds had rotted but when I took them out of the ground they were intact and no sprout was visible. Now I decided to put them in a jar type container germinator style between some wet napkins and put them back in the fridge. The seeds stay wet and have been there for about 2 months. My query is to know if I am doing the process to make them germinate well or am I missing some detail that I overlooked? From now thank you very much and I hope your answer
Hi Ignacio.
Well, well, looking forward to the end of the confinement hehe. And how are you?
Regarding your question, if you have sandpaper, sand the seeds down a bit on one side. Eye, a little nothing more. In this way, you will make micro-cuts through which moisture will enter, hydrating them. From there, it will be easier for them to germinate.
If you have more questions, ask 🙂
Regards!
Hi Monica, I understand you about confinement, it must not be easy, I live in the country and therefore I have no problem going outside, but people from the city find it quite tedious. Regarding the cornus issue, I wanted to know if it is okay to leave them as a germinator in the jar with humidity and between kitchen paper napkins, do they germinate like this? ; For sanding, do I have to remove them from the humidity and wait for them to dry or do I sand them like this? . Thanks
Hello Ignatius again.
The problem with having them in a jar (by the way, if you have it closed with a lid, take it off for a little while every day so that the air is renewed) is that the humidity inside becomes very high, which favors the appearance of fungi. Therefore, if you have copper, sulfur or cinnamon powder, sprinkle the seeds to avoid problems. For the rest, they should be able to germinate.
With regard to sanding them, for convenience it is better to wait for them to dry, but of course, since they are already wet, it is not good to risk them dehydrating, since if that happens they might not germinate. So it is preferable to sand them as they are now, but I insist, sandpaper them a few times.
regards
ok, thank you very much, I'll see if I can pass it a small piece of sandpaper, it's because the seed is so small that it's inconvenient to pass it, maybe I'd have to take the lid off the jars and leave them in the fridge without the lid. The other time I had asked you questions about a framboyan that I have, it was big but last winter was very hard in these latitudes, with many frosts and I did not cover it too much because I thought that with its size nothing was going to happen to it, you know that it dried up and began to sprout from very low, from close to the ground, I couldn't believe what happened to me and I chose to take it out of the ground and put it in a pot and well, at least in a pot it is more manageable The same thing happened to me with an African tulip tree that I ended up removing from the ground because every winter it dried up and sprouted from below, being covered with nylon. Now I have these two beautiful trees in pots and to my surprise, the tulip tree is about to bloom, incredible. When the strong winter arrives, I put them inside or put them under a corridor so they don't freeze. With the framboyan I used a Japanese technique, when I was left with the bare branches I wrapped it in dry reed, but it did not work for me, maybe I should have put more reed on it or maybe it was a bad idea and that technique is more for places where It snows, I don't know.
Hello again.
I am glad that both the flamboyant and the tulip tree have recovered. Sometimes there is no other option but to take them out of the garden and have them in pots in a more protected place.
Good luck with the Cornus seeds!
regards
Hi, I'm from Chile, I have a Cornus Florido in my garden. The truth is that when it blooms it's wonderful, a spectacle. This is the end of spring, the beginning of summer. The only problem I see is that after it finishes flowering, its petals fall. as dry leaves (which are many) then the center of the flower becomes a fruit that at the end of the summer also ripe falls to the ground and in autumn its leaves fall, that is, it is a tree that gives a lot of cleaning work when you have a garden so big…..
Hi Natascha.
You can always leave these remains on the ground so that, as they decompose, they release the nutrients that the plant used to produce them 🙂
Regards!
Hi Natasha, I'm also from Vhile, could you give me seeds or a pin from your little tree to reproduce it? Where do you live? I in Aculeo Paine greetings
Hi…I live on the edge of the sea….in the center of Chile. That wonderful tree that is the flowery cornus will adapt to the salinity of the air and the earth?????
Hello maite.
No, unfortunately its tolerance to salinity is very low. But instead the acacia (genus Acacia, not Albizia), casuarina, or Eleagnus, they can grow well near the sea.
Regards!
Hello, I have a Cornus that I planted in May in Chile and it has always been very shaggy and its leaves are slightly brown. Clearly it is not a lack of watering because everything close to it is very green and happy. I pay it regularly. Is a pruning recommended? I am located in the south central zone of Chile
Thank you
Hello Maria Jose.
Perhaps it lacks iron. The cornus florida it is a plant that grows well in acidic soils, such as Japanese maple, heather, camellia or azalea. If you already have those plants, or know of a nearby garden that does and they are healthy, do you by any chance get it wet when you water it?
If so, they may be getting sunburned. It is not good to water from above. You just have to water the land.
In any case, it would also benefit from some regular fertilizer input, such as earthworm humus or guano.
Regards!
HELLO MONICA:
I live in Concepción, CHILE and we have a Cornus Florida, white.
When the fruits are ripe they are reddish in color.
My concern is for the children who live in my sector, who are going to take the fruit and consume it. I have read that the birds like it a lot, especially the thrushes, and I see that nothing happens to them.
I'm awaiting your comments about it.
A hug,
Rolando
Hi Rolando.
Well, let's see, they are not poisonous (that is, they are not deadly) for humans, but they are not suitable for consumption. That is why it is better that children do not eat them.
Regards!