Description

Landscaping: Silky Dogwood is a deciduous flowering shrub that is used to create thickets. These thickets are used as windbreaks and wildlife borders and to stabilize slops.

Young dogwoods have bright red stems in the fall, winter and early spring, which turn reddish-brown in the summer. As the shrub matures, the stems turn reddish-brown year-round and later gray. Silky and red osier dogwood, though very similar, can be distinguished by their pith and fruit color. Silky dogwood has a brown pith in 1-2 year old stems, dark green ovate leaves, yellowish-white flowers which bloom in mid-June, and bluish colored fruit which matures in September. Red osier dogwood has a white pith, dark green ovate leaves, white flowers, and whitish colored fruit.

Wildlife: Birds enjoy eating the berries.

Contributed by: Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder

Click here for more information from USDA-NRCS.