There are very few landscape plants that can brighten up the winter landscape as much as Red Twig Dogwoods.  Native throughout the entire state of Minnesota,  Red Twig Dogwoods will grow nicely on upland soils, and are one of the few native shrubs that can also grow happily in moist and even swampy soils.

This great versatility means that you can use Red Twig Dogwoods to add a beautiful mass of red color to the winter landscape on almost any property.  It is the newer twigs and stems that have the brightest red color during the winter.  During the growing season the color of the bark is less intense, but when the leaves turn color in autumn, so do the younger stems, taking on more intense shades of red.

Red Twig Dogwoods will grow almost anywhere except in deep shade.  The more sunlight they receive  April through September, the more brilliant the winter bark color becomes.  When stems get older they do not show good winter bark color.  To renew the color, remove the older stems in early April, and new stems will fill the void and once again show nice red winter color.

The common native Red Twig Dogwood is quite nice, but personally, I prefer two other selections because they have more intense red winter bark color.  Both Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood and the Baton Rouge Red Twig Dogwood have a more intense and lovely red twig color all winter long.

Try to avoid planting just one Red Twig Dogwood.  Pick a sunny area and do a mass planting to get an eye popping mass of red that almost glows when there is snow covering the ground and the sun is shining.

Whatever you choose —

 

Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood, Baton Rouge Red Twig Dogwood or the common Red Twig Dogwood, you will have a large, colorful, disease resistant massed planting shrub that is sure to please the eye for many winters to come.