# Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

> The classic spring understory tree: white bracts in April, red berries and burgundy leaves in fall.

Also called eastern dogwood. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flowering-dogwood/

![Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) in summer leaf, next spring's round flower buds set at the tips of its layered branches](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/flowering-dogwood-2-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 15 to 30 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9
- Grows wild in: The forest understory and rich moist slopes
- Native range: 31 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north to [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), south to [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL) and west to [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC))
- Sun: Part, Full, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Flowers: April
- Fruit: Berries, September to October
- First crop: 6 years
- Mature spread: 30 ft
- Traits: Showy flowers, Fall color, Wildlife value, Tolerates shade
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Seed-grown dogwoods from wild stands carry far more genetic diversity than the handful of grafted cultivars sold in garden centers, which matters against anthracnose and powdery mildew. Plant in dappled shade with mulch over the roots, avoid wet feet, and never let a mower near the trunk. At home beneath tall pines or oaks, or as the spring tree outside a kitchen window.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Flowering dogwood does its growing early. Height growth is fairly rapid for the first 20 to 30 years and then almost stops. Our growth estimator models the whole run at about a foot a year, the figure it uses for a slow grower. In a yard expect 15 to 30 feet. On a good forest site it makes 30 to 40 feet with a trunk 8 to 16 inches through, and the tallest on record stood 55 feet.

A tree grown from seed commonly flowers and fruits at 6 years old, with a good seed crop every other year. The white bracts are about 2 inches long, and the red berries that follow are half an inch long and a quarter inch through. At least 36 kinds of birds eat them, along with deer, bears, squirrels, foxes and skunks. A tree may live 125 years, and the oldest known has been ring-counted to 180.

It grows wild from southwestern Maine west to New York, southern Ontario, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, and south to east Texas and north Florida.

## How to grow Flowering Dogwood

Dogwood is an understory tree, so the best spot has high shade and morning sun, with afternoon shelter at the warm end of its range. Full sun works where summers stay cool and the soil holds moisture. Give it average, well-drained ground on the acid side. The spread matches the height, so keep the trunk 15 feet from the house. Set trees 15 feet apart.

Plant in the dormant season, favoring early spring over fall in cold zones. Saplings come bare-root or in containers with fine, shallow roots. Dig a broad, shallow hole, plant a little high where drainage is doubtful, leave the root flare showing, and reuse the soil. Spread mulch thin and wide over the roots, never against the bark. A stake is seldom wanted. Clean the stones from the red fruit and sow them outdoors in early fall, half an inch deep under mulch. Stones held for spring need about four months of cold, damp storage first.

Water whenever the top inch dries through the first two summers, since shallow roots dry fast. Deer rub small trunks and browse the tips, so cage the tree for three winters. Keep string trimmers away, since every bark wound invites dogwood borer.

Flowering dogwood rejects its own pollen and a lone tree's fruits often hold empty stones, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents. Flowering dogwood's known trouble is anthracnose, worst in cool, still, damp shade. Air movement and morning sun that dries the leaves do more than any spray. Fall color comes early, often the first red in the woods.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: flowering dogwood](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/flowering-dogwood)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Cornus florida](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cornus-florida/)
- [The Morton Arboretum: flowering dogwood](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/flowering-dogwood/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Cornus florida](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/COFL2)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: flowering dogwood, Cornus florida](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_cofl2.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet: flowering dogwood, Cornus florida](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_cofl2.pdf)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Cornus chapter, Brinkman and Vankus](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Cornus.pdf)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Cornus florida](https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/corflo/all.html)
- [USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, Forest Health Protection: Dogwood Anthracnose and its Spread in the South, Anderson and others](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/10877)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Cornus florida](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COFL2)
- [University of Florida IFAS: Cornus florida fact sheet ENH344/ST185](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST185)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Benthamidia florida (Cornus florida)](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/benthamidia/florida/)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: flowering dogwood, Cornus florida](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=44)
- [Ontario's old growth forests, Michael Henry: Ontario's oldest trees, updated February 2025](https://www.oldgrowth.ca/oldtrees/)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Small native trees and large shrubs for a small yard, and how to place them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-native-trees-for-small-yards/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)

## Related

- We grow 7 other dogwoods (Cornus): [all of them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md?q=cornus)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Umbrella Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/umbrella-magnolia/index.html.md), [Red Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-buckeye/index.html.md), [Mountain Winterberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-winterberry/index.html.md) and [Chalk Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chalk-maple/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md), [American Basswood (Linden)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-basswood/index.html.md) and [Black Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-maple/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Pagoda Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pagoda-dogwood/index.html.md), [Yaupon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yaupon/index.html.md), [Shadblow Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shadblow-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Downy Hawthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/downy-hawthorn/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Flowering Dogwood, add ?species=flowering-dogwood with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 5, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Flowering Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood): whether Flowering Dogwood can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can move it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Flowering Dogwood as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Flowering Dogwood is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Flowering Dogwood needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=flowering-dogwood:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Flowering Dogwood where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Flowering Dogwood goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=flowering-dogwood&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Flowering Dogwood flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=flowering-dogwood