Brilliant color in a late winter landscape is a visual feast and a great way to lift winter weary spirits.  ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood is just the right shrub to produce a big splash of fluorescent red color that contrasts nicely with the stark white of a fresh March snowfall.

Hardy and time tested for decades in our harsh Minnesota climate, ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood performs well in a wide variety of soil types, especially areas where soil may be too damp for other shrubs to prosper.  If you have an area where drainage is poor to moderate and other plant materials have struggled, you may want to try ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood.

To get the best winter twig color, choose a sunny location for ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood.  The best and brightest red twigs are canes that are one or two seasons old.  For this reason, regular and aggressive early spring pruning of  ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood will produce the biggest and  brightest mass of red color the following winter.

Consider planting ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood in your yard to add pizzaz to your winter landscape.  For best effect, allow plenty of space and sunlight, and create a fairly large massed planting for maximum impact.

Another tip for great color intensity is to place your ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwoods in a location where you will usually be viewing them from a southern vantage point.  As you look north at the massed planting, the bright winter sunshine will stream from the south over your shoulder and reflect back at your eyes off the bright red stems.  This virtually doubles the visual intensity of the stem color of  ‘Cardinal’ Red Twig Dogwood.