Cornus amomum
Should you’re trying to find a plant to brighten up a very soggy spot in your yard, contemplate silky dogwood (Cornus amomum).
This species is chilly hardy, remarkably pest and illness resistant, and really straightforward to develop.
So long as you possibly can 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 via 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 big variety 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 typically 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 frequent 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 solution to cobalt blue berries.
That is undoubtedly when silky dogwood is at its most decorative – when a bit early fall coloration comes creeping into the leaves and highlights the wealthy, darkish, clusters of berries.
Fast Look
Frequent title(s): Silky or swamp dogwood
Plant sort: Woody shrub
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 5-8
Native to: North America
Bloom time / season: Spring flowers, fall berries
Publicity: Full to half solar
Soil sort: 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 stand up to all however essentially the most frigid of situations.
It’s additionally fairly pleased with a little bit of flooding or to dry out once in a while. Silky dogwood is resilient, enticing, and ecologically necessary.
Given loads of water, sunshine and room to develop, this hardworking plant pays its approach, attracting hordes of pollinators in summer season and flocks of birds within the fall.
Learn how to Develop
The true great thing about this North American shrub is its skill to supply blossoms, fruit, and entice wildlife with out you having to carry 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 wishes no pruning, both.
The primary elements you must develop a hearty, completely happy, silky dogwood are solar, fertile soil, and water.
Gentle
Silky dogwood prefers a full solar to partial shade location. It will probably tolerate a good bit of shade, however you’ll see much less prolific blooming.
Take into account 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 could be very tolerant of moist, boggy, poorly drained soils, and constant moisture is non-negotiable.
When established, the shrub shall be okay with brief dry spells however any prolonged drought would require supplemental irrigation.
Should you do select to find silky dogwood someplace that dries out periodically, make sure that to heap a great three inches of mulch or compost on prime of the foundation zone each spring and summer season.
This further layer of insulation will assist entice moisture. If it doesn’t rain closely no less than as soon as per week, water deeply.
The place to Purchase
You’ll be able to usually discover silky dogwood at plant nurseries or on-line retailers specializing in native vegetation.
There aren’t any cultivated kinds of this species out there so it’ll usually be listed as silky dogwood.
You’ll typically come throughout swamp dogwood (C. obliqua) which was beforehand thought-about to be a subspecies of C. amomum. It’s fairly just like silky dogwood and infrequently troublesome to inform them aside.
Silky Dogwood
You will discover naked roots and vegetation in #3 containers out there at Nature Hills Nursery.
Propagation
You’ll be able to propagate silky dogwood from seed, stem cuttings, or transplanting nursery begins.
Beginning this shrub from seed may be fairly unreliable, and could also be higher left to seasoned propagators.
From Seed
If you’re gathering your individual seed you’ll face the tough activity of eradicating the pulp from the seed previous to sowing.
This tough, sticky work is often completed by chicken, reptilian, and mammalian stomachs.
One of the best 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 number of cycles.
When they’re clear, permit the seed to dry on a paper towel.
The seeds require a chilly interval referred to as chilly stratification to kickstart germination.
To attain this, you possibly can both place your ready seed in a bag stuffed 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.
Should you 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.
Should you sow in fall, place your flat outdoor in a location protected against temperature extremes and excessive winds. Preserve the soil moist, however not soaking moist. Seeds will usually 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 possibly can pot up essentially the most sturdy seedlings into four-inch pots and proceed to take care of them till the next spring when you possibly can transplant out into the backyard.
From Stem Cuttings
Lots of the species within the Cornus genus will root from cuttings buried straight within the floor.
Silky dogwood, and its cousins purple twig dogwood (C. sericea) and grey dogwood (C. racemosa) are all able to being propagated this fashion.
Cuttings are greatest 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, reduce a 24-inch-long piece of stem, angling your reduce at a 45-degree angle.
Plant the reduce 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 software, to make a information gap. This fashion you possibly can make sure the stem doesn’t break as you slide it into the bottom.
Moist soil is crucial for this methodology of propagation to work. In case your soil dries out over the winter or spring, make sure that to water totally.
Leaf improvement in spring will let you already know your cuttings have rooted and are properly on their solution to changing into massive, sturdy shrubs.
Softwood Cuttings
You too can propagate silky dogwood from softwood cuttings taken in the summertime, after flowering is completed.
Put together a four-inch pot with equal elements potting soil and vermiculite. Make sure that the substrate is tamped down properly 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 3 leaf nodes above the soil. Use a pencil to make information holes. You’ll be able to 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. Preserve 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 may be set out within the backyard.
Transplanting
To transplant your cuttings, seedlings, or bought nursery begins, the method is fairly easy.
Dig a gap a bit wider than the foundation ball and simply as deep. Silky dogwood actually loves moisture, so I personally prefer to drench the foundation 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 properly.
Area vegetation six to 10 toes aside to permit for mature unfold.
Managing Pests and Illness
Pests and illnesses that bother this powerful, wetland species are few and much between.
Rising your shrub in optimum sunny, moist situations 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 will help defend it from harm whereas it’s changing into established.
Pests
Though loads of creepy crawlies might select to munch in your silky dogwood, few will really harm 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 inclined to some delicate fungal illnesses. None of those points are significantly problematic and may usually be managed pretty simply.
Leaf Spot
The time period “leaf spot” describes quite a lot of blemishes and lesions on the foliage, usually on account of fungal an infection.
You may even see black or brown discoloration and the lesions may be round or splotchy and irregular.
There’s not so much you are able to do to stop this problem, as fungal pathogens are usually prevalent within the damp situations favored by this species.
Fortunately, leaf spot is sort of by no means severe, although it could actually trigger early leaf drop within the case of a extreme an infection.
In case your plant suffers from leaf spot one yr the probabilities are good that it is going to be completely wonderful the next yr.
Powdery Mildew
Like leaf spot, powdery mildew is attributable to quite a few totally different fungal pathogens. This situation is characterised by a white to grey powder coating the higher surfaces of the leaves.
In extreme circumstances it could actually trigger leaf drop.
Powdery mildew is primarily an aesthetic downside. A longtime, wholesome specimen will tolerate an an infection of powdery mildew very properly.
You’ll be able to study extra about powdery mildew right here.
Our information to frequent dogwood illnesses has extra data.
Rugged and Dependable
Happily for the laidback gardeners amongst us, silky dogwood actually takes care of itself.
Tolerant of variable moisture ranges, impervious to excessive chilly, and barely bothered by pests and illnesses, this species will entice helpful bugs and supply the birds with tasty berries.
Give this species the moist, sunny situations it prefers, step again, and let it prosper.
Do you develop silky dogwood? Please inform us how you utilize this glorious species in your individual 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: