Pagoda dogwood is at home in Maine

“Even then this modest tree might pass unnoticed by many, appreciated by few. It belongs, something like the warbling vireo which eats the Pigeonberry’s fruit, to the class of subtle sylvan things little seen and even quite unheard of, by most people. It is most enjoyed by those who, while not necessarily trained as field botanists, have a gardener’s eye, and a plantsman’s habits of mind, when they walk abroad in the woods.”

– Donald Culross Peattie (1948)

I received an inquiry from Annette Bernardin of Winterport, recently transplanted from Newburyport, Mass. Annette left behind a Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa) and wants to know if this species can be grown in Maine. She also asked about the early flowering dogwood (C. florida).

I want to quickly dispense with these two non-native dogwoods and devote the bulk of my words to the subject of the above quote, the pagoda dogwood (C. alternifolia). First, flowering dogwood will not grow in Maine, principally because of lack of cold hardiness. This is despite the fact that they are rated hardy in USDA Zone 5. This is primarily an issue of provenance, as most of the available trees originate from southern ecotypes.

Korean dogwood will survive Maine winters, although I have yet to see one that I thought was truly happy to be here. There may be one somewhere, growing against a warm wall in a warm region of the state.

Let me now turn to the heart of my answer to Annette’s question.

Native to Maine’s upland mesic forests, often keeping company with moosewood and mountain maple, the pagoda dogwood is first recognized at a distance by its distinctive horizontal branching habit, the widely spaced branches arranged in tiered whorls that become progressively smaller toward the top of the tree, producing a pagoda-like form. The ends of each branch and each twig turn upward, giving the entire tree a very graceful habit. In the wild, pagoda dogwood may take the form of a small narrow tree growing to no more than 30 feet in height or it may exist as a multi-stemmed shrub, the result of deer or moose browsing.

Pagoda dogwood’s alternate leaves are clustered near the ends of the twigs, resulting in an umbrella-like canopy. Silvery gray in early spring, the leaves are bright green in summer and usually maroon purple, yellow and scarlet in autumn.

Small, slightly fragrant, creamy-white flowers develop in late spring, borne in two- to three-inch-wide, flat-topped clusters that are layered above the leaves along each branch. By late summer, clusters of round berries, dark blue or reddish purple and attached by bright red pedicels, provide food for songbirds, waterfowl and mammals – both large and small. The high wildlife value of these berries accounts for the earlier common name: pigeonberry. Pagoda dogwood is highly shade tolerant and has no major insect or disease problems. It is, however, sensitive to soil compaction and other urban stresses. I have seen it used successfully in small residential gardens and on New England college campuses, isolated from severely compacted walking paths.

Pagoda dogwood is at home in the woodland garden under the shade of sugar maple, American beech, yellow birch and sweet birch. Use it with other deciduous forest understory trees such as striped maple and shadblow serviceberry, underplanted with colonies of two shade-tolerant viburnums, maple leaf viburnum and hobblebush.

Pagoda dogwood is a tree for all seasons, its small size ideally suited to modern landscapes. And it is available -send me an e-mail and I’ll tell you where I bought mine.

Send queries to Gardening Questions, P.O. Box 418, Ellsworth 04605, or to reesermanley@shead.org.

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