About this cultivar: Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ is one of the best dogwoods for adding fiery winter colour to the garden, with brilliantly red stems that stand out against bare ground, frost, or even snow. In spring and summer, it is a pleasant enough shrub, with soft green leaves and clusters of small white flowers, followed by white berries that birds enjoy. But it is in winter, after leaf fall, that Cardinal really earns its place—its stems glow in shades of scarlet and coral, intensifying in the cold and looking particularly striking when backlit by low winter sun. This fast-growing, hardy shrub thrives in damp soils and can tolerate a wide range of conditions, from wet meadows to city gardens. It responds well to pruning—cutting it back hard in early spring encourages the brightest young stems for the following winter and leaves you with some stems to display indoors! A perfect choice for hedgerows, borders, or waterside planting, Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ is one of those rare plants that bring structure and vibrancy when the garden needs it most. Position: Full sun, partial shade Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert Flowers: May, June Other features: Grows well in Ballyrobert Hardiness: H7 - Hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20°C), Fully hardy - grows well in Ballyrobert! Habit: Suckering Foliage: Deciduous Height: 150 - 250cm (5 - 8 ft) Spread: 120 - 180 cm (4 - 6 ft) Time to full growth: 5 to 10 years Plant type: Shrub Colour: Red, yellow, green, white Goes well with: Grasses such as Miscanthus and Calamagrostis. But anything really. Other Cornus also go well with this one. About this genus: Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the dogwood family (Cornaceae). The species vary enormously! Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of the temperate North. Cornus are well known to gardeners. The poet Virgil makes reference to a haunted copse of cornel in Book III of the Aeneid. They were also known to Geoffrey Chaucer, who calls them "whippletree" in The Canterbury Tales. The name "dog-tree" entered the English vocabulary before 1548, becoming "dogwood" by 1614. One theory is that "dogwood" was derived from the Old English dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of its very hard wood for making "dags" (daggers, skewers, and arrows). More recently in the Victorian Era, flowers or sprigs of dogwood were presented to unmarried women by male suitors to signify affection! Apart from daggers and dating it appears Dogwood has been used throughout time and throughout the world for almost anything - from toothbrushes to tennis rackets, from fermented fruit to curing colds. Perhaps the stems could be used instead of fiber optic broadband? We'll stick to using it in our garden for now. Cornus are almost ubiquitous in gardens, and not just here; horticulturist Donald Wyman stated, "There is a dogwood for almost every part of the U.S. except the hottest and driest areas". But with good reason - they grow almost anywhere,are beautiful in every season, and cultivars are available in almost every in height, colour and shape, In our garden at Ballyrobert we are probably guilty of over-using Cornus (if that is possible). It is a good idea to think about where your light shines in the colder months so you can really appreciate their colourful stems. Most books will tell you to plant them with grasses such as Miscanthus and Calamagrostis - and we do that . But we also plant them beside Geranium, other Cornus and Euonymus. We had even stuck a few Galanthus (snowdrops) beneath the 'flame' cultivars. I just had an idea to put bright red/orange/yellow bulbs at the bottom of them too - watch this space!
