Red Twig Dogwood

Cornus sericea

Deciduous shrub
Mature Height: 6’-9’
Mature Width: 8’-12’

The reddish stems of this shrub turn bright red in winter and are particularly showy against a snowy backdrop. Its tiny, fragrant, white flowers appear in flat-topped clusters (cymes up to 2.5” diameter) in late spring, with sparse, intermittent, additional flowering sometimes continuing into summer. The flowers give way to clusters of whitish (sometimes with a bluish tinge) drupes in summer. Its fruit is quite attractive to birds, and is generally considered to have as much, if not more, ornamental interest than the flowers.