Dogwoods

For many people, dogwood blossoms signal spring and the Smith Mossman garden features a variety of dogwoods. There is the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttalli) which has the beautiful white flower the dogwood is known for. In addition, the garden is home to two cultivars of C. nuttalli ‘Colrigo Giant’ which has very large flowers up to 7” across, and C. nuttalli ‘Gold Spot’ which has green leaves that are wildly splashed with yellow-gold variegation. The Smith Mossman garden is also home to the native Cornus canadensis, with a flower just like the classic dogwood, only in miniature and on a groundcover that tops out at only six inches tall. Commonly known as bunch berries because of the red berries that appear in bunches, this lovely little groundcover is a jewel in the shade of the woodland.  And falling in between the tree and the groundcover are the shrubby dogwoods that show off brightly colored decorative bark in winter when the azaleas in the garden are resting. Twig color varies from dark maroon to coral to yellow depending on the species and variety.