Cornus amomum 'Cayenne'

Since the day I saw a fistful of red winter stems of this silky dogwood at Dr. Dirr's I had to have it. Dirr found Cayenne growing in a swamp in Virginia and brought twigs home to propagate. I'm sure glad he did - I've long coveted the red stems of Cornus alba and Cornus sericea and have killed my fair share of those in the heat of zone 8a (but, heaven knows, the attempts were worth the failures - I was willing to die trying and kept my fingers crossed for a mild summer). I never knew Cornus amomum would produce the red stems! I'd seen scads of this white-flowered native dogwood on the banks of the Appalachee as I paddled by, but was clueless to the red-stemmed potential. I am so glad we have this plant to dress up our gardens in winter. It's a native one too! No longer do I have to keep my fingers crossed - Cayenne is heat tolerant and vigorous. The tiny, white flowers (actually very un-dogwood-like) are in clusters called cymes, much like those of its water-side neighbor, Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis. The pollinated flowers form these blue fruits that the birds gobble up. The fruit color is like the blue in Blue Willow and Blue Danube China - there's a picture here to show you what I mean. Like other woodies with colorful bark, you get the best color on 1st year stems. First year stems are the stems that grew most recently - the summer prior to winter. To get the most red winter stems, cut it back in summer to induce more branching. Cut it back no later than Autust 1st so you give it plenty of time to put on a couple of feet of new growth - those 1st year stems you'll enjoy so much that winter.