Image sourced from Flickr/Ryan Somma
There are plants that are really amazing, that can leave us speechless at any time of the year. One of those is the cornus florida, a kind of tree that produces numerous flowers, so many that it seems that it wants to hide its leaves behind its petals.
The most interesting of all is not its ornamental value, but also how resistant it is and how easy it is to maintain, even in a pot.
What is its origin and its characteristics?
It is a magnificent deciduous tree (sometimes shrub) native to eastern North America, from Maine to Florida in the United States, and eastern Mexico. It is known as flowery dogwood or flowery leech. Carlos Linnaeus was described and published in Species Plantarum in the year 1753.
If we talk about its characteristics, it grows at a good pace until reach a height between 5 and 10 meters. Its crown is usually wide, about 3-6 meters, with a trunk thickness of up to 30cm. Its leaves grow in the opposite way, and are simple, 6 to 13cm long by up to 6cm wide. These are usually green, but in the fall they turn reddish before falling.
Flowerswho are bisexual and sprout in spring (around the month of April in the northern hemisphere) they are grouped in very dense umbels, with around 20 flowers made up of four white bracts (modified leaves, often mistakenly called petals).
The fruit is a cluster of about ten drupes, 10-15mm long. They ripen in late summer, acquiring a reddish color. They are edible for many birds.
What care do you need to live?
In order to enjoy this beauty in the garden or on the patio, it is very important to bear in mind that can be both in the sun and in semi-shade, but if the climate is rather warm, it will require protection against the king star, otherwise its leaves could burn.
It does not have invasive roots, but as its crown is wide it is advisable to plant it at least 4 meters from walls, walls and other plants that are high, in acidic and well-drained lands. Thus, the cornus florida It will grow freely and you will be able to contemplate it in all its splendor as it grows.
Irrigation has to be moderate. It does not resist drought, but it does not resist waterlogging either. So, in principle, with about 4 waterings a week in summer and about 2/week the rest of the year, it will be fine. Use rainwater or no lime.
Finally, say that it multiplies by seeds in spring, which germinate in about three weeks as long as they are sown in a seedbed outside. Resists frosts down to -18ºC.