Tag Archives: Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Dogwood Daze
In A Vase On Monday – Christmastide
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
Prepared on Sunday during pouring down rain, many ingredients in this week’s offering may look familiar. Instead of trekking outdoors to hunt for materials I salvaged what I could from last week’s vase: winter daphne, lavender, dogwood. Refreshed with the addition of several anthuriums gleaned from a house plant, along with a couple of stems of poinsettia, the vase has shifted into holiday mode. I also added leaves from a beefsteak begonia.
Placed into a silver tray dotted with red and silver holiday ornaments and paired with an orchid full of rich purple, the repurposed arrangement celebrates winter solstice* today and is ready for the countdown to Christmas.
Despite the strangeness of this stay-at-home year and the challenging family health issues we faced in recent month, we find ourselves full of gratitude and joy. My husband is improving. During his illness and recovery we have been the recipients of an outpouring of generosity, love and kindness—cards, emails, calls, meals, offers of assistance, and as the holiday season swings ’round, delicious desserts. The poinsettia and the orchid are new this year, each gifts from neighborhood friends, as was the anthurium last year.
Amidst the foliage I included one tiny symbolic sprig of balsam fir at the base, clipped from a lovely door swag wreath sent by former across-the-street Wave Road neighbors.
Materials
Flowers
Anthurium
Orchid
Poinsettia
Foliage
Balsam fir
Begonia ‘Erythrophylla’ (Beefsteak Begonia)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Daphne odora (Winter daphne)
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Dutch’ (Dutch Lavender)
Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting sweet pea)
Container
Silver Gallery Tray with holiday baubles
It is a gift also to have you visit my blog. I appreciate your interest, advice and support throughout the year. Hope you are making or finding reasons to smile each day.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
*December Solstice (Winter Solstice) is on Monday, December 21, 2020 at 5:02 am in Chapel Hill. In terms of daylight, this day is 4 hours, 53 minutes shorter than on June Solstice.
In A Vase On Monday – December Etude
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
At mid-December the temperatures are mild again, nearly 70 degrees. In my garden a fall-blooming iris strangely has developed fat buds again, but only camellia sasanquas are flowering.
Having relied heavily on camellias for vase material for the past many years I am finding them decidedly uninspiring this year. Nevertheless I collected a few Yuletide flowers Sunday morning, but then changing directions I challenged myself to focus on foliage for a vase study this week.
Colorful oak leaves and dogwood buds were the main focus supported by fresh green Winter Daphne form the basis of the design.
With the addition of the red flowers the arrangement took on an offbeat holiday look.
Materials
Flowers
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Foliage
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Daphne odora (Winter daphne)
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Dutch’ (Dutch Lavender)
Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting sweet pea)
Quercus (oak)
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Container
Solimene Vietri ceramic bowl
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
In A Vase On Monday – Three Weeks Ago
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages garden bloggers to share a vase of cuttings gathered from our gardens. I haven’t had time to put together even a quick one this week so I’m sharing one from three weeks ago when the dahlias and zinnias were overflowing. That week I prepared two vases from among the same materials and settled on a calm Ikebana-style vase titled Autumn Mood. This one is the opposite, unrestrained, spilling from an egg basket I wove years ago.
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia sp.
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
Foliage
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Container
Egg Basket
The dahlias are no longer blooming but a few zinnias are still going. These last pictures are digital painting using Waterlogue.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
After The Morning Fog
At first chance this morning I dashed outside drawn by the rich redness of the dogwood. The early fog had cleared leaving lush droplets caressing the garden.
It is 75°F. and cloudy on this quiet autumn day, a third of the way into November
In A Vase On Monday – Autumn Mood
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
Yesterday, on a rainy Sunday morning, I actually gathered zinnias for today’s vase, but only one shows up in this Ikebana design. Featured are dogwood branches with berries. A large dinnerplate dahlia whose name I do not know makes an interesting foil for the colorful autumn leaves.
The dahlias which have carried the garden through the summer and fall are finally , sadly, slowing down. Only one D. ‘Cafe Au Lait’ was usable for today but it was perfect in the way it relates to the color of the berries and its subtle stripes of pink connect to the leaves and larger flower.
The small red zinnia is a somewhat daring addition but I tried it and liked it.
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia sp.
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Zinnia
Foliage
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Materials
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Black Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
Finding Nourishment
It is Friday, 62 degrees Fahrenheit at midday, with showers and a bit of fog after a morning of heavy rain. During one brief lull I stepped outdoors into drizzle and onto squishy earth for a few much-needed minutes of garden nourishment.
Shasta season has long been over but fresh blooms appear sporadically.
My mother’s cousin Virgie’s everlasting sweet pea, originally passed along to me decades ago, has had its best year ever in the 19 years growing in this garden.
This red salvia is not particularly showy but hummingbirds stop over on most days.
Dahlias seem to be trying to make up for lost time.
Zinnias, usually the mainstay of my summer garden, remind me I have to find a way to rabbit-proof the borders, a daunting task.
This week P. at Petals and Wings (blog and Instagram) generously shared lavender irises with me. I am so excited to see them flower and experience their fragrance next spring, but first the ground needs to dry so I can get them planted. Meanwhile a white reblooming iris is getting battered by rain today.
Bees enjoy spiderwort but I have to work to keep it from taking over the garden.
I planted this itea four years ago. Its presence has been decidedly understated until now.
A native purchased at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in 2012 this rudbeckia produces small, misshapen flowers, yet it shouts happy to be here.
This salvia is one of my favorites. It has largely run rampant in one section of the garden, but is easy to remove. That’s the best kind of plant to have I think.
Silvery foliage of Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ has been attractive for months. Behind it Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ adds a colorful layer.

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood), Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood), Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)
The jewel-like hue of Butterfly Bush is even more dramatic in the rain.
Columbine makes a nice ground cover throughout portions of the garden.
Exceptionally colorful this year the dogwood is forming a nice crop of berries.
For now the garden still offers plenty of color. Hope you are finding nourishment in your own way today.
In A Vase On Monday – Rose and White
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.
Virgie was my mother’s first cousin and she shared her love of gardening and lots of plants with me over the years. Her passalong rose is blooming this week and it seemed destined to feature in today’s vase.
When I began photographing the arrangement the heuchera leaf front and center at the lip of the vase seemed much too dark; I added a white snapdragon so it would not leave a black hole. Later I decided I liked the balance of the other flowers without that central snapdragon. Now I cannot decide so thought I would show both ways. The top two images show the original design and these next two show the modified one with the additional snapdragon.
Accompanying the roses is a branch of Flowering Dogwood. Dogwood is native to North Carolina and serves as our state flower.
Other white flowers include a late blooming narcissus, whose name I wish I knew, and the aforementioned snapdragon, Speedy Sonnet White.
A few pink and red dianthus were added for accent and texture.
As concealer foliage I used young leaves of Big Top Bronze Heuchera with their reddish undersides, along with spring green fern-like tansy leaves (one is visible in the upper right corner).
Materials
Flowers
Antirrhinum majus ‘Speedy Sonnet White’ (Snapdragon)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Dianthus Ideal Select Mix
Narcissus
Rose
Foliage
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells)
Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
Vase
Ceramic Urn Stamped “Vintage 4”
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place in a vase this week. Good health and peace to you.
In A Vase On Monday – Late November Selections
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.
The garden’s seasonal transition away from floral abundance left me unenthusiastically inspecting stems and sticks yesterday. Finding a bright leaf here and there lit my spirit, small clusters of berries brought a smile.
When from among my large planting of passalong chrysanthemums left raggedy from cold and rain, I was able to glean several fresh blooms, I felt encouragement enough to assemble a vase and then another.
Materials
Flowers
Button Chrysanthemum
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Foliage
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Itea virginica ‘Sprich’ LITTLE HENRY (Virginia sweetspire)
Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Container
Porcelain Ikebana vases, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Black Wave, Triangle Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.
In A Vase On Monday—April Trio
Each Monday Cathy from Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase assembled from materials collected in our gardens.
Flowers blooming in the garden this week make my heart sing! I put together three quick assemblages. The first is a simple highlight of tulips, muscari and anemone.
The other two vases mix and match the first iris and dogwood blooms with more muscari, tulips and anemones.
A fading bloom from a phalaenopisis orchid worked its way into this tall blue vase with white Dutch Iris and an early-blooming purple Iris germanica.
This Ikebana design was actually created first and began with fresh stems of flowering dogwood. It did not need anything else but I could not stop adding bits of color.
Materials
Flowers
Anemone De Caen ‘Mr Fokker’
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Iberis (candytuft)
Iris germanica (Tall bearded iris)
Iris × hollandica (Dutch Iris)
Muscari ‘Armeniacum’
Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid)
Tulip Triumph ‘Negrita’
Foliage
Containers
One – Hand-thrown Seagrove Pottery (olive-artichoke glaze)
Two – Handmade blue ceramic lidded jar
Three – Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Rectangle Blue Zen (6.75L x 3.75W x 2H inches)
Hope signs of spring are close to your hearts this week.
Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.
Garden Bloggers Foliage Day – September 2015
I am joining Christina at Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for Garden Bloggers Foliage Day (GBFD, today. After such a hot, dry summer I have not enjoyed much time in the garden lately. I usually am sad to say good-bye to summer, but Fall begins here tomorrow and I find myself relieved.
The dogwood has limped through these hot days. It gets too much sun in its 14-year temporary (let’s just put it here for now) location. A nearby juniper that used to provide it shade had to come down several years ago, leaving the dogwood quite exposed until the replacement tree can grow large enough to become its protector. Yesterday I noticed the dogwood is starting to form fruit. When I took these pictures, I believe I heard a deep, tired sigh.
After displaying its beautiful flowers in mid-July this Iris domestica (Blackberry Lily) put itself to work on the task of increasing the show for next year. This is the first year I have grown Blackberry Lily and it is easy to understand why it got its name. Big green pods formed by mid-August and now a month later, these richly black seeds have emerged.
Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry) is native to Southeastern United States. This is a deciduous shrub with loose, open branching. The magenta berries are less visible than in other Callicarpa species, but the cardinals, finches and other birds in the garden find them easily.
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine) blooms its heart out in early spring. After being cut back to the ground it drapes itself again in soft, fresh green leaves, making an attractive ground cover.
Thanks to Christina for hosting. Be sure to visit her to see her featured foliage and find links to other foliage highlights of other GBFD bloggers.
Garden Views At Mid-April
The past week was sunny, hot, rainy, cool—mostly splendidly spring. Dogwood branches dress the back northwest corner. At first the bracts opened a creamy yellow-green, but later changed to white.
An afternoon thunderstorm passed through several days ago. That night another storm followed with rain pounding and prolonged streaks of lightening piercing the nighttime sky. Here is a garden view in-between storms.
The stones in the circle now need a good cleaning since the driving rain washed mud across the the labyrinth. The upper part of the the circle is filled with Viola that overwintered. Their purplish hue is continued along the back border by Phlox subulata.
Also in the circle are snapdragons that were planted last October. I have never grown them successfully but this year they made it through the cold and now look poised to flower. Dark clumps of Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ are putting out fresh new foliage. This penstemon self-seeds freely. The mounds of bright green foliage are white and pink Dianthus.
A few days this week I took my coffee outside into the very early morning just as the birds awoke. Those first hours of the day are often the best time to appreciate this little garden’s peaceful offerings.
Not often do I photograph the garden from the position below, that is, standing behind the dogwood at the northwest corner and looking east toward the back of the house.
The brick foundation seems rather bleak and bare from this distance, but move back up close and one can see the first of the native columbine flowers are nodding about. In this border Aquilegia is underplanted with Monarda didyma (Scarlet Beebalm). Soon it will all fill in. I spotted our first hummingbird this week and this area is a big attraction for them.

Garden View With Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine) underplanted with Monarda didyma (Scarlet Beebalm)
Returning to the dogwood corner, I could not resist sharing a few more views. Phlox subulata looked pretty waterlogged on this morning, but has since recovered.
Close by the dogwood is where the Anemone coronaria are planted. Since last year only one survived I am happy this area is so colorful. Maybe someone will be able to help solve a mystery. I am curious as to why the centers of some of the white “Bride” flowers look so different.
Sadly the newly purchased Gardenia jasminoides ‘Summer Snow’ fell victim to a late freeze. It was supposed to be a hardier variety but the entire shrub turned brown. Fortunately I was able to return it for a refund.
Pine pollen is in full force, coating everything with a fine yellow dust. Not even the huge storms this week could tamp it down. This will go on for several more weeks.
On a happier note, elsewhere in the garden Irises are gaining inches each day and a few fat buds have appeared. And Peonies, baptisia, clematis and more are making promises for a beautiful spring.
First Morningtide—October 2014
Today’s early sky wore a draping, heavy fog. Dewdrops coated every leaf, flower and blade of grass. Would you agree the first morning hours are the the best time in the garden?
The lawn was covered with dozens of spiderwebs courtesy (I think) of Agelenopsis sp. (Grass Spider).
In the Southern Border everlasting sweet pea flowers continue to form.
Salvia greggii ‘Furman’s Red’ (Autumn Sage) is new this year and has seemed slow to get growing. On the other hand, long established Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage) is very aggressive.
An interesting and delicate-looking fungus popped up today. I could not figure out its name, but a friend who has been studying all things fungi identified it as Parasola plicatilis.
Tradescantia used to be one of my favorite passalong plants, admired for its pretty blue, three-petaled flower. It became roguish in my current garden so I am always trying to dig it out or at least cut it back to keep it from flowering. It is much tougher and persistent than I am though. Tradescantia is growing all around the garden, but this happens to be in the northwest corner of the Western Border.
I actually bought this white Tradescantia. Although white ones are found wild, this may be a hybrid. It does not have the tendency to wander.
The dogwood leaves picked up some autumn color this week. A bird (presumably) found and chewed one of these red ripened berries. Next year’s new buds are forming.
Hylotelephium telephium ‘Herbstfreude’ (Autumn Joy) has performed extremely well this year. Now its color is evolving through brick red and rusty hues. Notice the Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ shows up frequently around the garden.
Roses need more care than is included in my normal “water twice and leave it alone” gardening philosophy. Rosa ‘Iceberg’ did poorly in the spring and I began thinking about taking it out of the garden altogether. This morning I found this excuse to delay.
New lupine leaves look very healthy.
Though I have never seen one growing around here, I have always wanted to grow a lupine. It comes from long ago because of reading a book about The Lupine Lady to our young daughter. On a whim back in April I purchased a container of Lupinus ‘Woodfield Hybrids’ from a local nursery and for some reason (probably because the tag said it would be 5-6 feet tall) I put it toward the back of the Western Border where it was pretty much out of view. It did have several flowers but never gained its expected height.
If anyone can offer lupine advice I would appreciate your ideas. Did I end up with a dwarf variety or is this normal in the first season? Should I relocate it to the front of the border?
This photograph does not capture the foggy feeling but here is a view of the early morning garden.
In A Vase On Monday—Cornus Florida
I am joining in Cathy’s weekly challenge In A Vase On Monday to create a floral arrangement from materials gathered in one’s own garden. This week I have chosen to feature the native Cornus florida (flowering dogwood).
Responding to the week’s sunshine and warm temperatures, the petal-like bracts of Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) are almost fully opened, though the actual yellow-green flower heads, contained in the dense central cluster, remain tightly closed.
On Saturday, as I weeded nearby the dogwood, I became more and more aware of its seasonal beauty and I began imagining how it would look indoors. Though I have never cut dogwood for an arrangement before, I thought it might work perfectly in a set of tall pastel vases given me by one of my sisters. I collected three branches on Sunday and assembled the arrangement.
Because I needed to trim the three branches further in order to sit them in the vases properly I ended up with some leftover stems. For these I found a ceramic vase with a small mouth that helped hold these remainders straight. The earthy brown glaze and heaviness of the pottery piece contrasts greatly with the shape and height of the three pale-colored glass vases. Though not part of the original design this vase became an important component in the arrangement.
Using branches of varying heights as well as the airiness of the flowering branches themselves combine to create a sense of movement in the arrangement.
When I was a child my father instilled in me a fondness for dogwoods by making them the backdrop for family photographs at Easter. He had planted a dogwood in each corner of our front yard and many a spring my sisters and I posed in front of one particular white flowering tree, squinting at the sun in our pastel dresses and white gloves, patent leather shoes and Easter hats. So this week when the dogwoods started filling the neighborhoods and roadsides it really seemed like spring.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting. Visit her to see what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.