Siberian dogwood
Cornus alba 'Sibirica' · Cornaceae
The brightest red stems of any dogwood: sealing-wax scarlet in the winter sun. The leaves turn red before they fall.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to early June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around Siberian dogwood
The planner designed this bed around Siberian dogwood when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why Siberian dogwood stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Siberian dogwood × 1, white
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 11, pink
- 3 Stemless gentian × 43, blue
- 4 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 5 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' × 3, pink
- 6 Lady's mantle × 5, green
- 7 Easter lily × 4, white
- 8 Camassia × 5, 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.
- The only dense clusters. The others are open bowls, trumpets, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ 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 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' (4 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 three weeks. From late May to early June.
- Fills no gap. Every week it is in flower, at least three other kinds are too. It thickens a season that is already full.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. There is more stemless gentian than anything else, 43 plants in all.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 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 Siberian dogwood goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 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.
Grow it for winter, in a group, where low sun strikes the stems, and cut it almost to the ground every second March. The colour is on young wood only.
- Scarlet winter stems
- Grouping beside water
- Winter gardens
What to plant with Siberian dogwood
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Yellow twig dogwood: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same moist soil.
- Snowdrop: flowers first, early March to late March, so the spot is never empty; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Lenten rose: flowers first, late March to early May, so the spot is never empty; bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Siberian dogwood
Does Siberian dogwood need sun or shade?
Siberian 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 Siberian dogwood grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °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 Siberian dogwood flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to early 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 mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to early June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to early June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to late May |
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 Siberian dogwood be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Siberian dogwood plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is Siberian 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 Siberian dogwood?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after Siberian dogwood?
Siberian dogwood is over by early June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Delphinium: from late June to mid July, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Foxglove: from early June to mid July, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Hollyhock: from early July to late August, 6 ft tall.
What does Siberian dogwood look like in winter?
Siberian dogwood drops its leaves and stands as bare branches: it is grown for scarlet winter stems and winter gardens. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is Siberian dogwood good for bees and butterflies?
Siberian dogwood is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Cornus
- Bloodtwig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire' Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'
- Cornelian cherry Cornus mas
- Red osier dogwood Cornus sericea
- Red twig dogwood 'Arctic Fire' Cornus sericea 'Arctic Fire'
- 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
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- 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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to early June; dense clusters; white, cream
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cornaceae
- Comes from
- Central and Eastern Asia
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, wet soil, erosion
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.