Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries
Cornus amomum
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Silky dogwood is the native shrub for a streambank, a pond edge, or a low spot that stays wet. Cornus amomum holds soil with a dense root system and tolerates periodic flooding, which is why it turns up in restoration plantings and rain garden designs. It grows 6 to 12 feet tall and wide in full sun to part shade, hardy from Zone 4 through Zone 8, and establishes quickly.
Flat clusters of creamy white flowers open in early summer, followed by berries that ripen through a run of colors, green to white to a distinctive porcelain blue by late summer. Birds take them quickly. The fall foliage turns reddish purple.
The name comes from the fine silky hairs on the undersides of the leaves and the young twigs. Winter stems are reddish purple, less brilliant than red twig dogwood but a warmer color through the cold months.
This is a mass planting and streambank shrub rather than a specimen. It spreads to form a colony and the habit runs loose and open with age, so it works along a wet edge or in a naturalized planting rather than a tidy border. Deer will browse it, so protect young plants where pressure is heavy.
Height 6'- 10' Spread 6'- 10'
USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8
Lowest Temperatures -30°F to -20°F
Part shade - 4 to 6 hours of direct sun per day, mostly before midday
Spring Azure, Azure butterflies
AL, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WV
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