Best of bunch: Dogwood (Cornus) (From Worcester News)

Best of bunch: Dogwood (Cornus)

2:33pm Monday 25th January 2010 in

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These deciduous shrubs are grown for their eye-catching colourful stems which provide useful colour in the winter garden and some are particularly useful in smaller gardens.

Cornus alba Sibirica is one of the most popular types with its vivid red stems, while C. sanguinea Midwinter Fire has orange and pink stems resembling flickering flames. The yellow-stemmed C.

stolonifera Flaviramea is also extremely effective in winter when grown next to C. alba.

Dogwoods, which reach about 1.2m x 1.2m (4ft x 4ft), are easy to grow – the only thing you must remember is to prune them hard each spring, cutting out the oldest stems. The new shoots that replace them have the most colourful bark. They can be planted in most soil, even clay types or along riverbanks and do best in full sun.