5 Silky Dogwood Live Plants (Cornus Amomum) – 6-8″ Tall Bare Root Shrub

Overview

Introduce the captivating beauty of the silky dogwood live plant into your garden. This native shrub, scientifically known as Cornus amomum, is renowned for its multi-season appeal, offering creamy white flowers in spring, lush dark green foliage throughout summer, and stunning reddish stems with burgundy fall color. Perfect for naturalizing, mass planting, or as a vibrant addition to shrub borders, especially in moist sites, the silky dogwood live plant is a robust and adaptable choice for American landscapes. Our offering includes 5 healthy bare root plants, each measuring 6-8 inches in height, ready for successful establishment in your outdoor space. This medium-sized shrub provides continuous visual interest, making it a valuable asset for creating dynamic and resilient garden designs.

The Cornus amomum shrub is a fantastic option for gardeners seeking an easy-to-grow, yet highly ornamental plant. Its arching, mounded, and multi-stemmed growth habit creates an open, round form that can effectively create thickets, providing excellent cover and food for wildlife. With its moderate growth rate, you’ll see your garden transform relatively quickly. This plant is not only beautiful but also ecologically beneficial, supporting local ecosystems. Whether you’re an experienced gardener or just starting, the silky dogwood live plant offers a rewarding growing experience with spectacular results.

Key Benefits

Choosing the silky dogwood live plant for your garden brings a multitude of advantages, enhancing both the aesthetic and ecological value of your outdoor space. Its exceptional performance across multiple seasons ensures continuous enjoyment and visual interest throughout the year.

• Four-Season Appeal: Enjoy creamy white flowers in spring, vibrant dark green foliage in summer, striking reddish stems, and rich burgundy fall color. This ensures your garden remains captivating year-round with the native dogwood plant.
• Wildlife Attraction: The berries produced by the silky dogwood are a crucial food source for various bird species, making your garden a haven for local fauna and supporting biodiversity.
• Adaptable & Resilient: Thrives in a wide range of conditions, particularly excelling in moist sites, making it a reliable choice for challenging areas where other plants might struggle.
• Naturalizing & Mass Planting: Its thicket-forming habit makes it ideal for naturalizing areas or planting in masses, creating dense, attractive borders and screens that offer privacy and structure.
• Erosion Control: The extensive root system of the Cornus amomum shrub is excellent for stabilizing soil on slopes and along waterways, helping to prevent erosion effectively.
• Low Maintenance: Once established, the silky dogwood requires minimal care, making it a perfect option for gardeners seeking beauty without extensive upkeep.
• Versatile Landscape Use: Suitable for shrub borders, hedges, rain gardens, or as a specimen plant, offering flexibility in garden design.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your silky dogwood live plant is straightforward, ensuring it thrives and provides years of beauty. These plants are adaptable and relatively low-maintenance once established. For optimal growth, plant your bare root silky dogwood in a location that receives full sun to partial shade. Full sun encourages more abundant flowering and better fall color, while partial shade is well-tolerated, especially in hotter climates. Aim for at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day. The native dogwood plant is particularly fond of moist soil conditions, making it an excellent choice for areas that retain water, such as near downspouts or in rain gardens.

When it comes to watering, consistent moisture is key for the Cornus amomum shrub, especially during its establishment period. Water deeply and regularly, ensuring the soil remains evenly moist but not waterlogged. Once established, it can tolerate some drought but will perform best with consistent moisture. The ideal soil type is a rich, well-draining loam, but it’s quite adaptable to various soil conditions, including clay, as long as it’s not excessively dry. A neutral to slightly acidic pH is preferred. The silky dogwood care routine also includes minimal fertilization; a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in early spring can be beneficial but is often not strictly necessary if planted in fertile soil. Pruning can be done in late winter or early spring to remove dead or damaged branches, or to shape the plant and encourage new growth. This resilient plant is generally pest and disease resistant, contributing to its ease of care.

The silky dogwood live plant is hardy in USDA zones 4-8, making it suitable for a wide range of climates across the US. It can withstand cold winters and hot summers within this range. Regarding common problems, ensuring adequate moisture is the most crucial aspect; prolonged dry spells can stress the plant. Proper site selection and consistent watering during dry periods will help prevent most issues, allowing your naturalizing plants to flourish.

Size & Details

This offering includes 5 individual silky dogwood live plant specimens, each supplied as a bare root plant. The plants measure approximately 6-8 inches in height upon arrival, providing a robust foundation for growth. Bare root plants are shipped without soil around their roots, which helps reduce shipping costs and transplant shock when properly rehydrated and planted. These plants are rooted in 72-cell plugs, with the potting mix intact around the roots, ensuring they are ready for planting. They are not shipped in containers.

The Cornus amomum shrub is a medium to large-sized native shrub, ultimately reaching an average height of 8 feet. With a moderate growth rate, you can expect noticeable development each season. These young plants will establish quickly and begin to develop their characteristic arching, mounded, and multi-stemmed form, creating a thicket over time. Planting instructions are included with each purchase to guide you through the successful establishment of your new native dogwood plant.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: The silky dogwood live plant is a medium to large-sized shrub that typically grows to about 8 feet in height at maturity, forming an arching, mounded shape.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: This is an outdoor plant, specifically a native shrub (Cornus amomum shrub) that thrives in garden settings and is hardy in USDA zones 4-8.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: The native dogwood plant prefers full sun to partial shade, meaning it needs at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight daily for best performance, especially for flowering and fall color.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? Is it good for beginners? A: Yes, the silky dogwood live plant is considered relatively easy to care for and is an excellent choice for beginners due to its adaptability and resilience once established.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your order will include 5 bare root plants, each 6-8 inches tall, with their roots intact from 72-cell plugs. They will not be in containers.
• Q: When is the best time to plant this silky dogwood? A: The best time to plant bare root silky dogwood is in early spring or fall when the weather is cool, allowing the roots to establish before extreme temperatures.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: The silky dogwood live plant is hardy in USDA zones 4-8, meaning it is well-suited to survive winters within these regions. If you are outside this range, winter protection might be needed.
• Q: What type of soil does the silky dogwood prefer? A: It prefers rich, well-draining loam but is quite adaptable to various soil types, including clay, as long as the soil remains consistently moist.
• Q: What is the main benefit of planting a silky dogwood? A: One of the main benefits is its four-season appeal, offering beautiful flowers, foliage, and stem color throughout the year, along with its ecological value as a food source for wildlife.
• Q: How quickly will these plants grow? A: The Cornus amomum shrub has a moderate growth rate, meaning you can expect steady development and an increase in size each growing season after establishment.