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Trees Tennessee Gardening plants

What has been your experience with disease-resistant Cornus florida?

September 27, 2019

I need a small deciduous tree in my front yard to provide shade and leaf litter for groundcover, yet tall enough to walk under. Wildlife sustenance would be a plus. Full sun, preferably native, and preferably a dogwood. Zone 7, East Tennessee.

C. alternifolia might be OK if I could prune the bottom branches.

The Cherokee series of C. florida are more readily available here. So I'm sort of focusing on them.

So. How tall and wide do Cherokee cultivars get in full sun?

Two resident dogwoods are accidentally growing in afternoon sun and doing well. However, they started out in shade, until the larger trees died. They are too tall (over 20 feet) for the location I need.

If the consensus says to forget dogwoods, then an alternative is a crabapple, despite it's not being native.

Thanks for any advice.

Comments (8)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
Not all of the Cherokee series are very disease resistant and none are overly resistant to dogwood anthracnose. For that you need C.f. 'Appalachian Spring', arguably the most disease resistant of any florida cultivar. Or go with the Rutger hybrids that mix native C. florida with either Cornus kousa or Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii.

Unless selecting a dwarf, all can eventually get to 20' or taller and as wide or wider.
September 27, 2019
canishel thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
sam_md
Here's a C. florida in my state doing well in full sun in a local park. (there's a maple in back of it) It won't get much taller than this. One reason our native dogwoods are so desirable is because they bloom before they leaf out. As for pagoda dogwoods I would mark them off the list due to golden canker disease. I would certainly consider 'Cherokee Brave' with that deep pink flower.
Wildlife sustenance would be a plus. This pic is from the above tree. Wildlife cannot resist those red berries and they will disappear quickly. Forget the hybrids, they are sterile.
Tennessee leads the world in dogwood production and I'm glad to see the Appalachian series being produced, definitely consider them.
October 6, 2019
canishel thanked sam_md
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sam_md
'Sterling Silver'

'Jean's Appalachian Snow'
October 11, 2019
canishel thanked sam_md
sam_md
'Peach Powell'
'Appalachian Joy'
It's great to see the interest in disease resistant C. florida. Notice how clean the foliage is. 'Peach Powell' is my favorite, it comes from a Belvidere, TN nursery. The story of 'Appalachian Spring' is interesting. It's origin is traced back to Camp David during the Reagan administration. C. florida sets it's flower buds during the hot, sunny, often droughty, dog days of summer. Countries with an insular climate will not have a great flower display the following spring.
October 11, 2019
canishel thanked sam_md
arbordave (SE MI)
Here's a good bulletin from Cornell on disease resistance in dogwoods. Agree with gardengal's comment on disease resistance in the Cherokee series. I have Cherokee Chief at the corner of my house in full sun for 2/3 of the day and it is growing reasonably well (although it wasn't happy after the polar vortex winters, leafing out late with some tip dieback).

Another option you could consider is Cornus mas or officinalis. I saw Sunsphere when I was in Knoxville a couple years ago. It could be limbed up into tree form.
October 12, 2019last modified: October 12, 2019
canishel thanked arbordave (SE MI)
bengz6westmd
sam_md, golden canker here isn't the problem w/pagoda dogwood (a few twigs get it, but not significant damage) -- the problem is the dang dogwood sawfly larvae that can chew them bare in a couple days!
October 13, 2019
canishel thanked bengz6westmd
sam_md
Canishel, I would encourage you to consider the Appalachian series of C. florida. HERE is an old American Gardener magazine article about a wholesale grower in your state. They currently list: 'Appalachian Blush, Mist, Joy Snow & Spring'. I am assuming that you buy @ retail so find out who the grower sells to and buy from them.
October 13, 2019last modified: October 13, 2019
canishel thanked sam_md
canishel
Thanks to all of you for some great information and links.

I've decided to wait until spring to make a decision. The drought has resulted in substantial damage to my garden and I need to wait to find out what has survived.

But I do welcome more information.
October 14, 2019

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