Cornelian cherry
Cornus mas · Cornaceae
Small puffs of yellow flowers cover the bare branches in late winter, weeks before forsythia, followed by edible, cherry-red fruit in late summer.
- Size
- 16½ ft tall, 15 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Early March to late March
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around cornelian cherry
The planner designed this bed around cornelian cherry when this page was made: a 30 × 14 ft (9.1 × 4.3 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why cornelian cherry stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Cornelian cherry × 1, yellow
- 2 Blue star creeper × 34, blue
- 3 Carpathian bellflower × 23, white
- 4 Blue holly × 1, blue-green leaves
- 5 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 3, pink
- 6 Canadian burnet × 3, white
- 7 Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' × 3, red
- 8 Garden phlox 'Laura' × 3, purple
- 9 Foamy bells 'Sweet Tea' × 3, bronze leaves
- 10 Golden ragwort × 37, yellow
- 11 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 12 Wild geranium 'Espresso' × 8, pink
- 13 Stemless gentian × 37, blue
- 14 Camassia × 6, blue
- 15 Turk's cap lily × 3, orange
- 16 Snowdrop × 31, white
Why this plant
- A classic partner for snowdrop. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do blue holly and Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 16½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Turk's cap lily (6 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From early March to late March.
- In company. With snowdrop in early March: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 31 of the 36 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Something is in flower for 29 weeks, from early March to early October. The flowering is at its height from mid July, with 7 kinds out together. The Design check says heights needs revision.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 8 in at the front, 2 ft in the middle and 3½ ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 4 ft and 16½ ft, and no two neighbours are the same height.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where cornelian cherry goes in a border
At 16½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
A large shrub or small tree that is the first thing to flower in many gardens. Tough, long-lived and free of pests. The fruit makes a sharp, good jam.
- The first flowers of the year
- A tall screen or hedge
- Edible fruit
What to plant with cornelian cherry
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Snowdrop: in flower together for four weeks, from early March; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
- Winter aconite: in flower together for two weeks, from early March; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it.
- Lenten rose: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for two weeks; bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about cornelian cherry
Does cornelian cherry need sun or shade?
Cornelian cherry grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does cornelian cherry grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does cornelian cherry flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early March to late March. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Mid March to early April |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early March to late March |
| Zone 6 | Early March to late March |
| Zone 7 | Late February to mid March |
| Zone 8 | Mid February to early March |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should cornelian cherry be planted?
13 ft (400 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 15 ft (450 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 16½ ft (500 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many cornelian cherry plants do I need?
Usually one. At 13 ft (400 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 13 ft apart: one plant for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is cornelian cherry poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like cornelian cherry?
Cornelian cherry comes from Central and Southern Europe and Western Asia. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Spicebush: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6½ ft shorter, 5 ft narrower.
- Common witch hazel: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid October to late November, bold leaves, not medium.
- White fringe tree: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late May to early June, white, not yellow.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat cornelian cherry?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after cornelian cherry?
Cornelian cherry is over by late March. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lenten rose: from late March to early May, 18 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Magnolia 'Jane': from late April to mid May, 13 ft tall.
- Forsythia: from late March to mid April, 8 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does cornelian cherry look like in winter?
Cornelian cherry drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is cornelian cherry good for bees and butterflies?
Cornelian cherry is visited by specialist bees and songbirds.
More Cornus
- Bloodtwig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire' Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'
- Red osier dogwood Cornus sericea
- Red twig dogwood 'Arctic Fire' Cornus sericea 'Arctic Fire'
- Siberian dogwood Cornus alba 'Sibirica'
- Tatarian dogwood 'Ivory Halo' Cornus alba 'Bailhalo' (Ivory Halo)
- Variegated red twig dogwood Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'
- Yellow twig dogwood Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- The first flowers of spring
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
In flower in: March
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 16½ ft (500 cm) tall, 15 ft (450 cm) wide
- Plant
- 13 ft (400 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early March to late March; dense clusters; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cornaceae
- Comes from
- Central and Southern Europe and Western Asia
- Attracts
- Specialist bees, songbirds
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.