Fall is the perfect time for Mother Nature to show off her beauty in our nature gardens, fields, and woods. The dogwood trees in my neighborhood are sporting red leaves and beautiful, shiny, red berries.
Dogwood Tree - Cornus florida by Fuzzy Gerdes
Flowering dogwood Cornus florida is an attractive small tree with white spring flowers often used for foundation plantings in the garden (I see it planted about every 3rd house in my area). It is a native tree, a great nature garden addition, with berries eaten by 36 species of birds, including the northern flicker, pileated woodpecker and evening grosbeak (1).
In spring one of the earliest butterflies, the diminutive spring azure Celastrina ladon, enjoys Cornus florida, as does the spectacular cecropia moth Hyalophora cecropia(2).
As one of nature’s understory trees, flowering dogwood can be planted in partial shade, grown on the east or west side of a home, or used in conjunction with taller trees. I’ve even seen it growing on the north side of homes, though it does look rather spindly and isn’t such a great garden addition there.
Gray Dogwood - Cornus racemosa by Benimoto
Gray dogwood Cornus racemosa is a thicket forming shrub with red new-growth twigs and distinctive white berries. The leaves turn an attractive maroon color in fall. This dogwood is probably best reserved for mass plantings for hedgerows or bank stabilization as it tends to spread.
According to Critsite, gray dogwood is resilient, grows in sun, shade, or part-shade and gives good nesting and cover for birds as well as food. Its berries attracts at least 17 species of birds including the downy woodpecker, cardinal and eastern bluebird(1). The insect in the photo resting happily on the dogwood berries is, according to the photographer, a fragile forktail Ischnura posita.
Dogwood Transition by jkirkhart35
Stiff dogwood Cornus foemina has berries which are at first white and then turn blue. It is similar to gray dogwood except that it enjoys moist or boggy ground. According to Critsite few shrubs tolerate wet sites, which makes stiff dogwood useful, but in limited situations.
Dogwoods are Native, but be careful what you buy
Dogwoods are native to much of the continent of North America, not just to Kansas. The above dogwoods are native to many of the eastern and southern states, making them great natures garden additions. You can take a look at the full list of dogwoods at the USDA Plant Database – search on common name dogwood to find dogwoods native to your own area.
However, avoid the introduced dogwoods such as Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood or Japanese dogwood) and Cornus officinalis (Asiatic dogwood). These are readily available mail order through garden catalogs and garden centers but they do no support insects and birds in your garden and are potentially invasive.
Have you seen dogwoods in your area? Which trees and bushes are you enjoying seeing berries on this fall?
Information from the following books was included in this article:
(1) The Bird Garden, National Audubon Society, Dorling Kindersley, 1995
(2) Bringing Nature Home, Douglas Tallamy, Timber Press, 2007
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Oooh, I love dogwood too! Their five-petaled flowers are such a welcome sight in spring after a dreary winter. And of course, the fact that the berries are eaten by so many birds is a great plus. This is a great tree to add to our wildlife gardens. Thanks for this great information.
Fabulous photos and informative too! Thanks for enriching my day!
Thanks for the comments Wendy and Carole. Some fall beauties really need to be seen up close to be appreciated, don’t they? What a gorgeous fall day it is today. I must get outside!