The first day of autumn coincides with Garden Bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD). As the season cycles from summer to fall, the garden remains fairly green. Only the Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) has shifted its foliage toward seasonal colors.
Native to eastern North America dogwoods are hallmarks of spring with their showy inflorescence of four large white bracts and central flower cluster. But the late summer/early autumnal foliage can be splendid as well.
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
The dogwood in my garden gets more sun than is ideal for an understory tree. In dry years it suffers miserably and its leaves become crispy brown and drop quickly. This year though the foliage has benefited from plentiful and frequent rainfall. The leaves are turning at a gentle rate, so the change from green to red to brown can be observed and appreciated.
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
The fruit clusters are an important food source for birds. Buds are already set for next year’s flowers.
Berries-Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Buds and Berries-Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Thanks to Christina at Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for hosting GBFD on the 22nd of each month.
Almanac
Autumnal equinox in my garden in the northern hemisphere, specifically North Carolina, U.S.A., is Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 4:44 PM EDT.
pbmGarden 
Lovely Cornus colours, and berries too to keep your birds happy. I must go and have a look at mine which is up at the top of the garden. The weather has suddenly gone very warm here, not sunny, just warm! Hopefully this will mean lots of lovely autumnal colours.
Thanks Pauline. We’re still having plenty of warm days here too but after a rainy Saturday, Sunday is sunny and beautiful. Hope your fall colors will be striking.
These are glorious. I walked past a completely crimson virginia creeper yesterday and really wished I had had my camera.
Thanks! The Virginia creeper sounds great–I love deep reds like that.
Thank you for joining in again this month. The dogwood foliage is a wonderful shade of red, I so wish I could grow it here. Our seasons this year seem to have been similar, with more rain than usual.
I have a deep fondness for Dogwoods going back to childhood, so it’s nice to see this one perking up a bit after many years of just hanging on. Thanks for hosting GBFD.
Great images! I am looking for some Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) for planting use, I have some white ones (Chinese Flowering Dogwood) to exchange.– I live in Ontario, Canada though. I don’t know why so far I did not see any Florida Flowering Dogwood fruit here. 😦
Not sure about seeds, but I think my husband got this one through Arbor Day Foundation.
I want to grow a tree from a seed though…not buying a tree. 😦
I have a young C. flornida, as well as a bunch of shrub dogwoods. They have not started to show leaf color yet, but the berries have been completely devoured by the birds.
The birds couldn’t wait I guess.
Very pretty colour for autumn. Our equinox was 10.44pm… 7 minutes ago! Shall celebrate with some gardening tomorrow. Happy autumn Susie. 😀
Happy Autumn to you too Cathy! Gardening will be a great way to embrace the new season.
You’ve really captured the rich blend of reds in the leaves, nice job. We have a pink dogwood just off the front porch and I think every bird in the neighborhood stopped by this morning to either have a snack or just see what all the fuss was about. They really are a great wildlife tree.
Thank you! Your pink dogwood sounds lovely and obviously tasty as well. The birds have feasted on the one in my garden also, though they’re more discreet.
The changing of the colors and the changing of the seasons, such a beautiful progression of events to watch.
So true. I’ve been sensing that Autumn was coming for weeks now, with the changing light. Let’s hope the foliage color displays will be rich. Have a great day Charlie.
My red twig dogwoods are changing with the maples here.
Someday I would like to grow red twig dogwoods–really admire them. Our maples are staying green, for now.