From Bluestone Perennials in spring 2020
Two more from Bluestone in summer 2023
Photos
I put this in the blue pot on the deck for winter interest (the red stems) and for something green and leafy in summer.
In fall 2021 I moved the pot to the spot behind the deck. The plant was big and green and leafy, and fall color was good, but it got too big for the pot, and it didn't do much visually behind the deck.
Photos
Expectations:
This is a dwarf variety only to about 3 or 4 feet, and I wanted it for a container. It is not a suckering spreader, and is denser. I see red twig dogwoods planted all over the area here, but they are in water catchments where they get flooded occasionally. They apparently do well with that kind of standing wetness followed by long dry periods.
The red stems are on new growth. Prune out the older stems, or cut it all down every third year.
Experiences:
It had a tough start with too much wind and got tattered and torn, but it came back.
In spring 2021 it leafed out only from the base, sending up all new shoots. All the growth and the red stems from the prior year were dead and got trimmed off. But it regrew nicely.
By mid summer 2021 it was huge and green and leafy. I don't remember seeing any flowers.
So in spring 2023 I unpotted it and put it in the kitchen courtyard as a shrub level filler by the Kintzley's Ghost vine. The root structure was dense and huge and unpotting it was difficult. I trimmed about half the rootball off.
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| March 2023 |
It didn't do much through all of 2023 after the traumatic transplant, and there was no fall color, but it's doing well as it settles in.
In summer 2023 I got two more dwarf 'Arctic Fire' redtwig dogwoods for the shady potting bench curve to fill the mid level with more structure. Their stems should look good framed by the white aspen trunks and against the green boxwoods in winter.