The dogwood, a member of the Cornus genus, is a highly valued ornamental tree popular in landscapes across North America. These small deciduous trees are celebrated for their graceful structure and spectacular, year-round display of color. The visual appeal extends far beyond the well-known spring bloom, encompassing the leaves, fruit, and even the bark throughout the seasons. The palette of a dogwood tree is extensive, offering shades from pure white to deep scarlet and vibrant purple hues.
The Primary Spring Color Palette
The most recognizable color display of the dogwood is the striking flush of “blooms” that marks the arrival of spring. These showy, petal-like structures are not true flowers but rather modified leaves called bracts. The bracts surround the actual small, often inconspicuous, yellowish-green flowers at the center. The two most common species, the North American flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and the Asian Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), showcase the primary color range.
The classic color is a pristine white, which is the default for most wild Cornus florida and Cornus kousa varieties. These white bracts typically feature a rounded, often notched shape on the native dogwood, while the Asian species displays pointed, star-like bracts. Pigmentation variations within the species naturally lead to the other main spring colors: pink and red.
Pink coloration, ranging from a pale blush to a deeper rose, is achieved through specific breeding and selection. The deep red or scarlet dogwoods represent the most intense pigmentation available in the spring bracts. These dramatic colors are more common in cultivated varieties of C. florida, such as those designated as C. florida f. rubra. The intensity of the color can be influenced by environmental factors like soil acidity and sun exposure.
Beyond Bracts: Seasonal Color Changes
After the spring bracts fade and the true leaves emerge in summer, the dogwood’s color profile shifts to a deep, rich green. This foliage serves as the backdrop for the next wave of seasonal color that occurs in the autumn. Dogwoods are highly regarded for their dependable and vibrant fall foliage, which rivals many other deciduous trees.
The leaves transition from green to striking shades of red, deep burgundy, and scarlet purple as temperatures drop. The degree of color intensity is often linked to the amount of sunlight the tree receives. More sun generally produces deeper, more fiery hues. The Kousa dogwood, for example, is known for turning a particularly rich, reddish-purple color.
Simultaneously, the tree produces small fruits called drupes, which add another element of color to the fall landscape. In Cornus florida, these fruits ripen into clusters of bright, glossy red berries. The fruits of the Cornus kousa are larger and often described as looking like raspberries or strawberries, maturing to a pinkish-red color. These colorful berries persist on the branches, providing visual interest and a food source for birds.
Color Variations and Cultivars
Beyond the standard spring and fall colors, plant breeders have developed cultivars that push the boundaries of the dogwood color spectrum. Variegated foliage is one such variation, where the leaves are not solid green but feature stripes or margins of a different color. Cultivars like ‘Wolf Eyes’ and ‘Samaritan’ display leaves edged in creamy white or yellow, creating a lighter, brighter appearance throughout the growing season.
Newer hybrid varieties have been bred for previously unseen levels of color saturation and disease resistance. The Rutgers series of hybrids, for example, includes trees like ‘Scarlet Fire,’ which exhibits an extremely vivid, almost magenta, red-pink bract color. Other variations focus on the true flowers; while typically yellow-green, the overall effect of the bracts can be manipulated to appear lighter, such as the large, overlapping white bracts of the popular ‘Cloud Nine’ cultivar. This continuous breeding allows for novel colors and patterns.