Cornus racemosa, Gray Dogwood

 

Gray Dogwood flowers. Very poor image.

 

Gray Dogwood is a great shrub for the landscape, for pollinators and birds. Not only do the berries offer food for birds, the dense shrub also offers protection. The bark is gray and the foliage green with good fall color. Can be pruned and is decent for a hedge, but you can also use it at the back of the native plant garden, along a woodland edge, in a savanna-type setting, or to stabilize an embankment. FYI: If you search for Gray Dogwood on the web, too often pictures of Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood, and its large 4-petal flowers, are shown.

 

Shelterwood's Gray Dogwood are roughly 3-4 years old and should establish quickly in moist-medium to medium soils. They are tolerant of acid or alkaline soil conditions. Gray Dogwood can grow quite densely through suckering -ensure you have the landscape or garden space for this shrub at its mature size.

Blooms: creamy white, June into July 

Fruit: whitish berries, August into October

Height: 4 to 8 feet, easily as wide at full maturity

Conditions: pt sun to pt shade, moist-medium to medium soils

 

White berries and maroon-red foliage in autumn.