Starlight Dogwood Tree - Sturdy, Beautiful New Hybrid

Dogwoods are my favorite flowering trees.  I was already growing a white Cornus florida, a dark pink C. florida, a 'Stellar Pink' C. florida x C. kousa hybrid and two 'Heart Throb' C. kousa dogwoods when the owner of a local nursery told me about a vigorous new hybrid called 'Starlight.'  This C. kousa x C. nuttallii hybrid came from Rutger University's dogwood breeding program, which also created 'Stellar Pink' and the popular 'Venus.'.   After hearing the enthusiasm of this experienced nursery owner (who has been selling plants longer than I've been alive), I found places to plant three of them.

And they have lived up to the hype so far.  My 'Starlight' dogwoods are vigorous, upright growers.  The Rutger's program reports that no insect or disease problems have been seen on the original seedling in nearly thirty years of growth. 'Starlight' can grow in USDA Zones 6A through 9.

The 'Starlight' flowers are gorgeous, large, plentiful and incredibly long lasting.  I observed flowers emerging last year in May when my crabapple trees were blooming, and the flowers were still beautiful on the dogwoods when my astilbes bloomed in early July.  We had a cool spring, but even so that's an incredibly long flowering time for a tree.  In contrast, my crabapple tree blooms generally last less than two weeks.  And my crabapples need a lot of pruning to keep a nice shape, while my dogwoods have a beautiful natural growth habit.

Here is a photo of the emerging blooms.  The flower petals are actually bracts, which helps them last longer.  As you see, they emerge green before maturing to white.  In fall small reddish fruits develop and the leaves turn maroon before dropping.

Dogwoods grow as understory trees in the wild, so they generally don't grow as well in intense heat (like up against a west-facing wall).  My three trees are all growing in partial shade, and they seem very happy.  Dogwoods prefer rich, moist but well drained soil, so I have added compost to the surrounding soil and I make sure they get regular water.  Rutger's reports that 'Starlight' has decent drought tolerance once established, though it surely grows better with regular moisture.

I planted this 'Starlight' tree two years ago, and it has already put on a lot of new growth.  Eventually it should grow about twenty five feet tall and twenty feet wide, though I'll prune it to keep it narrower in my small yard.

I spent time reading about all the new dogwood hybrids released by Rutger's University (http://agproducts.rutgers.edu/dogwood/varieties.html) , and I'm glad I chose 'Starlight.'  The local nursery owner favored it over 'Venus' because of its vigor, though 'Venus' has slightly larger flowers.  'Starlight' is supposed to bloom one week earlier than 'Venus' as well.

Once again I find myself feeling very grateful for innovative plant breeders who create improved hybrids for me to enjoy in my garden.  I've been delighted with my three 'Starlight' trees already and look forward to watching them become even more beautiful as they mature.

Euphorbia Polychroma for Early Spring Vibrance

Perennials that bloom in April are in short supply for my Zone 6 garden.  Spokane winters are long, and few perennials can start growing and get ready to bloom until May or later.  So I was especially excited to discover Cushion Spurge (Euphorbia polychroma) a few years ago. 

This spurge is a lovely accompaniment to tulips like the ones above:  Palmyra, Negrita, Margarita, Black Hero, Orange Princess and Menton.  And unlike many tulips, cushion spurge will regrow and rebloom every year without replanting.

Shown here with Orange Princess tulips, cushion spurge is hardy in zones 4 to 8 and grows 1 to 1.5 feet tall and wide.  It prefers full sun and well-drained soil.  I grew my plants from seed, but I've seen them for sale at nurseries.

Like many euphorbias, this plant has milky sap that can be irritating to skin and eyes.  It also reseeds like crazy if you don't deadhead.  I wear gloves to cut the plant back by half as the blooms finish.  This helps the plant stay full throughout summer as well as preventing reseeding.

Cushion spurge works well with many colors.  It's shown here with pink creeping phlox and Royal Raindrops crabapple trees in bloom.

The nice thing about spring-blooming perennials is that cool temperatures allow the blooms to last a long time.  In spurge's case, the color actually comes from bracts instead of petals.

In this photo the spurge has outlasted the tulips and is still blooming when Purple Sensation and Early Emperor alliums have opened.

I really love the color combo of spurge's acid green with the purple alliums and maroon smoke bush foliage.

In fall the leaves turn red and last through light frosts before turning brown when the temperatures really drop.  Then it's time to cut back to the ground and wait for next spring.

Here's one more shot of this sturdy, useful, lovely plant.  In my walk around the garden this morning, I noticed the first stems emerging from some of my cushion spurges.  Spring is coming!   

Rainbow of Garden Plants for a Snowy Day

Although we've had a relatively mild winter, it's snowing again today.  So I'm sharing a rainbow of colors from past years in my garden to feed my need for color.  Above are 'Ambassador' allium.

'Ruby Giant' crocus.

 'Evening Tidings' bearded iris.

'Harmony' miniature iris.  They're actually a true cobalt blue, which I didn't capture very well here.

Allium caesium with 'Venice Blue' veronica at back.

'Rotlaub' rodgersia leaves.

'Little Lime' hydrangea.

Digitalis grandiflora, a true perennial foxglove.

'Goldilocks' crocus.

Unknown orange Oriental poppies.

'Royal Sunset' asiatic-longiflorum liles.

'Montgomery' astilbe.

'Buckeye Belle' herbaceous peony.

'William Shakespeare 2000' David Austin rose.
For those of you in cold climates like me, good luck waiting until spring!