Red osier dogwood
Cornus sericea · Cornaceae
A thicket of dark red stems, brightest in late winter, with flat white flower heads, white berries and purple-red leaves in autumn.
- Size
- 8 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around red osier dogwood
The planner designed this bed around red osier dogwood when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why red osier dogwood stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Red osier dogwood × 1, white
- 2 Stemless gentian × 30, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 29, yellow
- 4 Joe Pye weed 'Gateway' × 1, pink
- 5 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 6 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 3, pink
- 7 Clustered bellflower × 8, purple
- 8 Wild geranium × 3, pink
- 9 Sweet violet × 43, purple
- 10 Creeping Jacob's ladder × 16, blue
- 11 Easter lily × 4, white
- 12 Giant snowdrop × 12, white
- 13 Camassia × 6, blue
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 8 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 Easter lily (3 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 late May to mid June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With stemless gentian, mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana', wild geranium and others in late May: 6 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 20 of the 22 groups (91%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. It is planted in layers: about 8 in at the front, 20 in in the middle and 5 ft at the back. Sweet violet repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where red osier dogwood goes in a border
At 8 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.
The native red-stemmed dogwood of stream banks across the continent. It holds wet banks, feeds birds and hosts the spring azure butterfly. It spreads by layering.
- Winter stem colour
- Holding stream banks
- Native hedges and wildlife
What to plant with red osier dogwood
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Winterberry: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same moist soil.
- Blue flag iris: in flower together for three weeks, from late May; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it.
- Cinnamon fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about red osier dogwood
Does red osier dogwood need sun or shade?
Red osier dogwood 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 soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does red osier dogwood grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 7. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 7 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 red osier dogwood flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early June to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to early June |
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 red osier dogwood be planted?
6½ ft (200 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 ft (250 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many red osier dogwood plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6½ ft (200 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6½ ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is red osier dogwood 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.
Do deer eat red osier dogwood?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will red osier dogwood spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads into a thicket by suckers and by branches that root where they touch the ground. Give it room.
What flowers after red osier dogwood?
Red osier dogwood is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Hollyhock: from early July to late August, 6 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Oakleaf hydrangea: from mid June to early August, 6½ ft tall.
- Delphinium: from late June to mid July, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does red osier dogwood look like in winter?
Red osier dogwood drops its leaves and stands as bare branches: it is grown for winter stem colour. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is red osier dogwood good for bees and butterflies?
Red osier dogwood is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of spring azure feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Cornus
- Bloodtwig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire' Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'
- Cornelian cherry Cornus mas
- 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
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Plants for slopes and banks
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants for a white garden
- Host plants for the spring azure
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 8 ft (250 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6½ ft (200 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June; dense clusters; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Rounded, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cornaceae
- Comes from
- North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Spring azure
- Stands up to
- Deer, wet soil, erosion
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.