Red Dogwood Varieties

Beautiful both for their spring blooms and fall foliage as well as red stems in the winter, red dogwoods make perfect landscaping plants. Either tree or shrub, the dogwood can be placed anywhere in the yard. The red dogwoods’ production of berries through the winter makes them an important source of food for many songbirds and small mammals.

The pink flowering dogwood, Cornus florida rubra, stands as the most popular red dogwood tree and is the state tree of Virginia. It grows 20 to 30 feet tall. A hardy tree, the pink flowering dogwood does not need much pruning to develop of stable structure.

Distinguished by its brilliant red-purple fall foliage, this dogwood also puts on a show of pink flowers during spring. In the fall and winter, the tree produces bright red fruits, which many types of wildlife then feed on. As the tree grows, some branches may droop to the ground to create an interesting formation around the trunk.

Several varieties of red dogwood bushes exist, distinguishable by the color or their flowers, foliage and fruits. The vivid red bark makes these bushes a unique landscaping plant, especially during the winter months.

The red twig dogwood, Cornus Baileyi, has green foliage with red bark in winter and produces white flowers in spring, which give way to blue-black berries in the fall. This dogwood bush grows well in shady areas and is often planted in hedgerows.

This red twig dogwood, Cornus sericea, may share a name and distinctive red bark with Cornus Baileyi, but it produces white flowers with red berries instead of blue-black berries. This dogwood plant works particularly well as a bank cover, border, screen or even as a massing plant. Native to swampy conditions, the Cornus sericea can handle a variety of soils. It transplants easily because of its fibrous root systems.

The red osier ogwood grows from Alaska to Mexico to Virginia and has accumulated a wide variety of names, including redstem dogwood, gutter tree, California dogwood and redbrush.

In addition to the characteristic dark red winter bark, the red osier has sterile white flowers that produce white fruits, and bright maroon fall foliage. It usually grows about 7 feet tall. Drought resistant, this dogwood grows quickly and establishes with few problems. However, because the flowers on the red osier are sterile, cross-pollination by wildlife such as bees and butterflies is necessary. Deer find this dogwood distasteful.