Cornus amomum
If you happen to’re trying to find a plant to brighten up a very soggy spot in your yard, think about silky dogwood (Cornus amomum).
This species is chilly hardy, remarkably pest and illness resistant, and really straightforward to develop.
So long as you’ll be able to present full solar and constant moisture, this unfussy, medium-sized native shrub would possibly simply be proper in your panorama.
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Silky dogwood is discovered rising wild in moist areas as far north as Ontario and Maine and south by means of Missouri and Florida.
Thriving in common to wealthy, damp, freely draining soil, C. amomum naturally happens in swamps, floodplains, wetlands, and round streams and ponds.
In our information to rising dogwood, we introduce the Cornus genus and the wide range of various species.
This information focuses on silky dogwood, a local, low-maintenance shrub.
Right here’s what I’ll cowl:
Rising as much as 12 toes excessive and 6 toes vast, this shrub can seem considerably gangly and unkempt.
Spreading pretty quickly, silky dogwood usually produces roots the place low branches contact moist soil, creating dense thickets.
Leaves are pretty nondescript, oval-shaped, sporting the looping venation attribute of many Cornus species. The furry undersides of the leaves are what give the plant its widespread title.
In Might and June, clusters of small, creamy white or yellowish blossoms adorn the plant, attracting quite a lot of bugs from bees to butterflies.
In the direction of the top of summer season and starting of fall, pollinated flowers give strategy to cobalt blue berries.
That is undoubtedly when silky dogwood is at its most decorative – when somewhat early fall shade comes creeping into the leaves and highlights the wealthy, darkish, clusters of berries.
Fast Look
Widespread title(s): Silky or swamp dogwood
Plant kind: Woody shrub
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 5-8
Native to: North America
Bloom time / season: Spring flowers, fall berries
Publicity: Full to half solar
Soil kind: Moist, fertile, well-draining
Soil pH: 5.5-7.0, barely acidic to impartial
Time to maturity: 5 years
Mature dimension: 6-12 ft vast x 12 ft excessive
Finest makes use of: Erosion management, wetland plant, windbreak, wildlife backyard
Taxonomy
Order: Cornales
Household: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Species: Amomum
Hardy in Zones 5 to eight, C. amomum can face up to all however essentially the most frigid of circumstances.
It’s additionally fairly proud of a little bit of flooding or to dry out on occasion. Silky dogwood is resilient, enticing, and ecologically essential.
Given loads of water, sunshine and room to develop, this hardworking plant can pay its method, attracting hordes of pollinators in summer season and flocks of birds within the fall.
How one can Develop
The true fantastic thing about this North American shrub is its capability to supply blossoms, fruit, and entice wildlife with out you having to elevate a finger.
Plant it someplace you don’t have to fret about watering and easily sit again and let it run wild.
This versatile wetland species doesn’t require fertilization and desires no pruning, both.
The primary components you must develop a hearty, comfortable, silky dogwood are solar, fertile soil, and water.
Gentle
Silky dogwood prefers a full solar to partial shade location. It will possibly tolerate a good bit of shade, however you’ll see much less prolific blooming.
Think about its desire for full solar earlier than you begin packing it in with different vegetation.
Soil
Though this species prefers the organically-rich, marshy shores of a wetland or stream, C. amomum can tolerate drier soils as soon as established.
Fertile, well-draining, constantly soil with an acidic to impartial pH of 5.5 to 7.0 is good.
Water
This species may be very tolerant of moist, boggy, poorly drained soils, and constant moisture is non-negotiable.
When established, the shrub will probably be okay with brief dry spells however any prolonged drought would require supplemental irrigation.
If you happen to do select to find silky dogwood someplace that dries out periodically, be sure to heap an excellent three inches of mulch or compost on prime of the basis zone each spring and summer season.
This further layer of insulation will assist lure moisture. If it doesn’t rain closely at the very least as soon as per week, water deeply.
The place to Purchase
You possibly can sometimes discover silky dogwood at plant nurseries or on-line retailers focusing on native vegetation.
There aren’t any cultivated kinds of this species out there so it’ll typically be listed as silky dogwood.
You’ll typically come throughout swamp dogwood (C. obliqua) which was beforehand thought of to be a subspecies of C. amomum. It’s fairly much like silky dogwood and sometimes troublesome to inform them aside.
You’ll find naked roots and vegetation in #3 containers out there at Nature Hills Nursery.
Propagation
You possibly can propagate silky dogwood from seed, stem cuttings, or transplanting nursery begins.
Beginning this shrub from seed might be fairly unreliable, and could also be higher left to seasoned propagators.
From Seed
If you’re accumulating your personal seed you’ll face the difficult job of eradicating the pulp from the seed previous to sowing.
This difficult, sticky work is often achieved by chook, reptilian, and mammalian stomachs.
One of the simplest ways to do that is to soak the fruits in heat water for a day or two.
The fleshy rind can then be peeled away from the seed with the assistance of a rough sponge, some softened sandpaper, and even by eradicating the blades of a blender and pulsing the fruits within the water for a couple of cycles.
When they’re clear, permit the seed to dry on a paper towel.
The seeds require a chilly interval often known as chilly stratification to kickstart germination.
To attain this, you’ll be able to both place your ready seed in a bag crammed with moistened vermiculite and set it within the fridge for 60 days or sow in trays outdoor in fall and permit nature to deal with the stratification.
If you happen to select to stratify your seeds within the fridge, begin the method in order that they’ll be able to sow in spring, near your final frost date.
To sow seeds, put together a flat of moist potting soil and scatter them throughout the floor. Poke every seed down into the soil so it’s buried a few quarter of an inch deep.
If you happen to sow in fall, place your flat outdoor in a location shielded from temperature extremes and excessive winds. Maintain the soil moist, however not soaking moist. Seeds will sometimes begin to germinate in spring.
After germination, hold the soil constantly moist however not waterlogged. When a month or two has handed, skinny your seedlings to an inch aside.
In mid to late summer season, you’ll be able to pot up essentially the most sturdy seedlings into four-inch pots and proceed to look after them till the next spring when you’ll be able to transplant out into the backyard.
From Stem Cuttings
Most of the species within the Cornus genus will root from cuttings buried instantly within the floor.
Silky dogwood, and its cousins crimson twig dogwood (C. sericea) and grey dogwood (C. racemosa) are all able to being propagated this fashion.
Cuttings are finest taken within the fall after leaf drop.
Choose an extended, straight, wholesome twig with no wounds or blemishes on the bark. Utilizing a clear, sharp pair of pruners, lower a 24-inch-long piece of stem, angling your lower at a 45-degree angle.
Plant the lower finish six to eight inches into very moist soil. It helps typically to make use of a sturdy stick, or the deal with of a backyard device, to make a information gap. This fashion you’ll be able to make sure the stem doesn’t break as you slide it into the bottom.
Moist soil is crucial for this technique of propagation to work. In case your soil dries out over the winter or spring, be sure to water totally.
Leaf growth in spring will let you already know your cuttings have rooted and are nicely on their strategy to turning into giant, sturdy shrubs.
Softwood Cuttings
You may also propagate silky dogwood from softwood cuttings taken in the summertime, after flowering is completed.
Put together a four-inch pot with equal components potting soil and vermiculite. Make sure that the substrate is tamped down nicely and totally moistened.
Choose a number of items of pliable development, about three to 5 inches in size. With a pointy, clear pair of scissors, snip every reducing slightly below a pair of leaf nodes. Take away all of the leaves from the decrease half of the stem.
Bury the underside two inches of the cuttings into your ready pot, leaving two to a few leaf nodes above the soil. Use a pencil to make information holes. You possibly can develop three cuttings in every four-inch pot.
Create a tent round your pot with a transparent plastic bag to make a modified humidity dome. Maintain the soil constantly moist, however not waterlogged.
In six to eight weeks, your cuttings ought to have rooted.
After a month or so of root development, your new silky dogwood vegetation might be set out within the backyard.
Transplanting
To transplant your cuttings, seedlings, or bought nursery begins, the method is fairly easy.
Dig a gap somewhat wider than the basis ball and simply as deep. Silky dogwood actually loves moisture, so I personally wish to drench the basis ball earlier than burying it.
Set the plant within the gap and canopy the roots with soil, tamping it down as you go. Water in nicely.
Area vegetation six to 10 toes aside to permit for mature unfold.
Managing Pests and Illness
Pests and ailments that hassle this powerful, wetland species are few and much between.
Rising your shrub in optimum sunny, moist circumstances will assist it stay vigorous and wholesome.
Branches of younger vegetation can typically be nibbled on by little rodents, like muskrats, particularly in the event that they’re planted near water.
Erecting a small, two foot tall cage of hen wire round your new plant may help shield it from injury whereas it’s turning into established.
Pests
Though loads of creepy crawlies could select to munch in your silky dogwood, few will really injury your plant.
In truth, I like to recommend leaving native bugs alone to feed in your plant as wanted.
The one issues chances are you’ll come throughout are scale, leaf miners, and borers. Except the infestation is extreme, you don’t must do something.
Learn our information to dogwood pests to study extra.
Illness
Silky dogwood is considerably vulnerable to some gentle fungal ailments. None of those points are notably problematic and may typically be managed pretty simply.
Leaf Spot
The time period “leaf spot” describes quite a lot of blemishes and lesions on the foliage, typically on account of fungal an infection.
You may even see black or brown discoloration and the lesions might be round or splotchy and irregular.
There’s not so much you are able to do to stop this difficulty, as fungal pathogens are typically prevalent within the damp circumstances favored by this species.
Fortunately, leaf spot is sort of by no means severe, although it might trigger early leaf drop within the case of a extreme an infection.
In case your plant suffers from leaf spot one 12 months the possibilities are good that will probably be completely advantageous the next 12 months.
Powdery Mildew
Like leaf spot, powdery mildew is brought on by quite a few completely different fungal pathogens. This situation is characterised by a white to grey powder coating the higher surfaces of the leaves.
In extreme circumstances it might trigger leaf drop.
Powdery mildew is primarily an aesthetic downside. A longtime, wholesome specimen will tolerate an an infection of powdery mildew very nicely.
You possibly can study extra about powdery mildew right here.
Our information to widespread dogwood ailments has extra data.
Rugged and Dependable
Thankfully for the laidback gardeners amongst us, silky dogwood really takes care of itself.
Tolerant of variable moisture ranges, impervious to excessive chilly, and barely bothered by pests and ailments, this species will entice useful bugs and supply the birds with tasty berries.
Give this species the moist, sunny circumstances it prefers, step again, and let it prosper.
Do you develop silky dogwood? Please inform us how you employ this excellent species in your personal backyard. Feedback and questions are all the time welcome, too!
And to study extra about rising dogwood in your panorama, take a look at these guides subsequent: