Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ (Red Osier/Dogwood) today’s oneadayplant . There are hundreds of named forms of Cornus alba, C. sericea, and C. sanguinea, which are the three main species for what we grow as winter stem coloured dogwoods. Many of these cultivars don’t appear as regularly as the 5 or so very commonly used varieties, the two most available being C. alba ‘Sibirica’ and C. sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’. Nothing wrong with these varieties; in fact they are great performers. I would urge you to visit a collection of them to choose your favourite however. RHS Wisley and The Hillier Arboretum and Wakehurst Place are good places, but lots of gardens feature them boldly used en masse. . I like Cardinal, because it is a coral red with a touch of orange and the odd uncoloured lime-green stem. It doesn’t have the razzmatazz of some, but is a classy thing! . I also like the rarely planted Cornus alba ‘Kesselringii’, which has black stems, but it needs a contrast like a white wall or perhaps C. sericea ‘Flaviramea’ which has lime green stems, to make it shine. Even partnered with this form will make it stand out. . Full sun a must for lots of well coloured growth and a bright spot to help them shine. As you can see it also has great autumn colour. They like a fair amount of soil moisture and can even be grown with there roots at a pond or rivers edge to decent success. . Prune back hard every other year at leaf bud burst to get the best of the colour and growth. If you do every year they weaken as plants. If you don’t prune, the colour fades quickly as the wood ages. Best planted in groups where you have a cycle of pruned and unpruned plants each year. . #cornus #cornussericea #cornussericeacardinal #dogwood #osier #autumncolour #fallcolor #autumn #stemcolour #red #orange #coral #lime #gardening #wintergarden #rhswisley #wakehurstplace #hillierarboretum #winter #colouredstems #leaves #plantsformoistsun #sunlover #fire #colour (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHAipdPAIys/?igshid=19ei4qzypxsze
