Category: Native plant garden design | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Dogwoods – Part 2

August 7, 2019

I love the contrasting colors of the Red Twig Dogwood (*Cornus sericea*) against a dark green evergreen tree. Red and green is my favorite color combination.

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), often referred to as Red Twig Dogwood is another striking shrub because of the red highlights in its growth. This multi-stemmed shrub has red stems which are at their most brilliant in the late winter when the sun begins to shine longer in anticipation of spring.

Like all dogwoods, it has clusters of white flowers. These flat-topped blossoms produce pea-sized bluish-white drupes beloved by birds and small critters alike. It can handle full sun or part shade. Its oval and sometimes lance-shaped leaves turn shades of red and burgundy in the fall. How could one find a more colorful shrub.

As mentioned in Dogwoods – Part 1, Red Twig Dogwood makes a great border plant. It also seems to be able to handle our clay, often soggy, soils well.

A Shortcoming

Of all the dogwoods, Red Twig seems to be most susceptible to disease; namely, leaf and twig blight, canker and leaf spots, and scale.

How to tell dogwood leaves from non-native Buckthorn leaves?

A little fact shared with me by Don Vorpahl* who helped me with the design of my prairie some 30 years ago. If you slowly, but strongly, pull a bit of dogwood leaf from the stem of the leaf, it will show a strand of filament still attached to the main stem. Buckthorn, or any other leaves, for that matter will not show a filament.

See also US Forest Services’ Plant of the Week Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea L ssp sericea) for a more complete explanation about how to identify dogwoods.

*Don Vorpahl was one of the first native landscape designers in Wisconsin. See his article entitled “Planting A Woodland” in the Wild Ones book Landscaping with Native Plants.

Dogwoods – Part 1

August 5, 2019

The other day my husband John and I were having breakfast on the deck, overlooking the prairie, and he asked “are those red things on the dogwood berries?” Nope, they were not, but from a distance the bright red stems left from the Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) fruits sure did stand out.

Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

I love the distinctive branching pattern of the Pagoda Dogwood. It branches horizontally in a distinct tiered appearance, growing much wider than it is tall. It reminds me of a Japanese Garden.

Like all dogwoods, it has clusters or panicles of four-petaled flowers in the spring which form berries or drupes. Its berries are bluish-black in color with red flower stalks or peduncles. It’s clusters of creamy white flowers are flat-topped. They ripen in July. Later in the fall, the dark green oval leaves, which alternate on the stem (unlike other dogwoods), turn a lovely shade of reddish burgundy. It can handle full sun, but also likes part shade.

Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)

I love all the dogwoods, but I think Gray Dogwood is my favorite. It’s white, dome-shaped clusters of flowers in the spring, followed by white berries on those beautiful red stems in summer are so striking. Unfortunately, the berries don’t last long once the birds find out they’re ready for harvesting!

That grayish bark stands out amidst its lance-shaped leaves which grow opposite each other on the branch. Like all dogwoods, each leaf will have three or four curved veins per side which are slightly parallel to the curved edges of the leaf. They are dark green on top and lighter green and hairy on the bottom. In the fall, the Gray Dogwood leaves will turn a sort of purplish red in color.

A Great Border Shrub

Gray Dogwood (*Cornus racemosa*) is a good shrub for a border or a hedgerow.

We have Gray Dogwood growing at the back (south boundary) of our prairie, where it gets lots of sun. It makes a great border and as I’ve already mentioned in a previous post, is an important element of any hedgerow. It is striking mixed in with American Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum tirlobum), Wild Plum, Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) and some Cupplant (Silphium perfoliatum) for good measure. All these native plants seem to do well in the sometimes soggy soil of the back boundary of our prairie.

Fauna

Any of the dogwoods are a great nectar and pollen source for a huge variety of insects, as well as a food source for many more insects, larvae and caterpillars. Birds nest in their dense branches which are opposite branching. Their berries are eaten by a variety of birds and small animals and its leaves and branches are eaten by Cottontail Rabbit and White-Tailed Deer. It is very definitely a highly desirable plant for any well-intentioned habit.

If the conditions are just right, sometimes the dogwoods have blossomed twice for us during the year. That’s an extra treat for both us and the birds.

Wisconsin Native Plant Nurseries

July 8, 2019

Royal Catchfly (*Silene regia*) outstanding amongst the Bergamot (*Monarda fistulosa*), Purple Coneflower (*Echinacea purpurea*) and Black-Eyed Susans (*Rudbeckia hirta*). All make a great combo in any garden setting. Photo by Joan Rudolph

Wisconsin has updated its Native Plant Nurseries listing this year and I wanted to share it with you. The list is compiled by the WDNR’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program and includes nurseries which primarily carry plant material native to Wisconsin and adjacent states and nurseries which carry native Midwestern, non-native, and/or wild-dug plants*. All out-of-state nurseries are within about 100 miles of Wisconsin.

The list can be found here at Wisconsin Native Plant Nurseries. I’m also happy to say that many of the nurseries listed are or have been Wild Ones business members.

*Wild Ones and I recommend when purchasing from any nursery you ask the source of their plants or seeds. Plants native to Wisconsin — or any state or location, for that matter — should be nursery-propagated from locally grown seed. Native plants/seeds from Northern Wisconsin, for example, would not be considered native in the Central Sands area of Wisconsin. Nor, as another example, would native plants/seeds from Illinois be considered native to Northern Minnesota.

Another watch-out is the source of wild-dug native plants. Again, make certain you find out the source of these plants. Purchasing native wild-dug plants, just like digging up wild native plants, is illegal without the permission of the land owner. And, sometimes even with permission, it is not recommended if digging these plants creates an adverse change to the ecosystem services of the habitat. See Wild Ones Local Ecotype Guidelines.

Wisconsin Native Plant Nurseries

Wild Ones Local Ecotype Guidelines Rev 2018-07

Minnesota Homeowners will get paid to save Pollinators

June 21, 2019

It is fitting this day on which the Summer Soltice begins to write about what the State of Minnesota is doing for pollinators. Minnesota has just adopted legislation to develop a one-year program to assist homeowners interested in making their yards into habitat for pollinators and especially the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) and other at-risk species under the Endangered Species Act. The Lawns to Legumes grant program will be ready to implement in 2020.

A bumble bee (*Bombus rufocinctus*) nectaring on Virginia Waterleaf (*Hydrophyllum virginianum*), which makes an excellent native groundcover.

Funding

Homeowners who wish to participate will need to develop pollinator-friendly yards. In exchange, they will receive up to 75 percent of their expense incurred for the transformation. In areas identified crucial for the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, homeowners can receive up to 90 percent reimbursement.

Details are being worked out by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, so keep an eye on their website for updates.

For more historical details on the “Environment Omnibuzz bill,” go to Bee in his bonnet: MNHouse Enviro Finance lead Dan Fabian bags on new pollinator programs.