Linnaeus Day: Cornus sericea 'Cardinal'

Carl Linnaaus

My friend, Christopher Tidrick (From the Soil blog), has a new meme launching today that he calls Linnaeus Day. It is so named in honor of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), the Swede who is credited with the origin of plant taxonomy, or the naming of plants. He prepared the way for the use of binomial nomenclature, using Latin to provide each living thing with a unique name.

On Linnaeus Day, Chris challenges us to pick a plant from our garden and find out more about it. This is a wonderful project for information junkies like me. I find history of just about anything to be fascinating and when it involves one of my favorite pastimes, it’s irresistible. 

Since I have an acre to work with here, I’m doing my best to fill it up, growing hundreds of different plants in the gardens and landscape. How could I choose one to research? My inspiration came in the form of a beautiful red bird that frequents our bird feeders and it so happened that it posed for my camera yesterday, as I was trying to think of which plant I'd research.

Ohio's state bird, the cardinal, just outside our window

What does that have to do with my choice of plants for Linnaeus Day? I grow a red-twig dogwood in our gardens – three of them, in fact – whose botanical name is Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’. Winter is its true time to shine, because once it’s lost its leaves for the winter, it allows the branches to be seen. And in winter, their normally green branches turn bright red. (Dirr notes that the red winter color is not as good in Zone 7, where it’s more of a yellow, with a trace of orange.)

Cornus sericea 'Cardinal' with Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' in December

 

To keep this shrub producing the best red branches in winter, it’s advised to prune the older branches in the spring, as the deepest red color is shown on the younger growth. Pruning isn’t necessary though for growth's sake, unless you want to rein in this fast grower. 

I remember when I got mine (2008) and I planted them in a group of three. My mom came for a visit and promptly advised me that I’d better spread them apart a little more, unless I wanted one ginormous shrub, because she knew their growth habit. I promptly followed her advice, and it wasn't long before I was glad I did.

Azure butterfly on Geranium phaeum 'Lavender Pinwheel'

While researching information about this particular shrub, I learned that it’s a host plant for the spring and summer azure butterflies. We have both azures, but they look so similar, I can’t tell them apart when I see them flitting about in the yard and gardens.

‘Cardinal’ was developed by Dr. Harold Pellet in conjunction with the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which released it in 1987.  The University’s Woody Landscape Plant Breeding and Genetics program was formally initiated in 1954 to breed trees and shrubs capable of withstanding Minnesota's harsh climate. Since that time, the program has been responsible for the release of 46 cold hardy woody landscape plants.¹

Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’

Deciduous shrub – Hardy in Zones 2-7

Light: Full sun to Part shade
Soil: Moist, acidic to mildly alkaline
Mature size: 8-10 feet wide and high
Fruit: Clusters of white berries follow tiny white spring blooms

__________________________________

Information gathered from the following sources:

Wikipedia, "Carl Linnaeus"
Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs , Timber Press, 2011 ed., pp. 222-223.
Missouri Botanical Garden
¹University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

All Seeds Considered

The seed catalogs are coming fast and furiously now. The companies are playing to our weakness, especially those of us that live in the north. We're all rested from last year's hectic gardening season and we're ready to get back at it. The beautiful photos of the flowers and seed packets make us want to roll up our sleeves, grab our gloves and get planting!

But we're still in the planning season because the weather dictates it. It's still too early to start seeds inside. And I don't know about you, but I can't exactly make up my mind just what I want to grow this year. I always want to try a couple of new things and I'll be doing that again, but there are just so many wonderful things to choose from! And those seeds hold so much promise...

Lycopersicon esculentum 'Sungold'

"Who plants a seed beneath the sod

And waits to see, believes in God." 

~ Unknown

I know I told Romie that I don't want a larger garden, but unless I tear some existing things out, I'm not going to have nearly enough room (again) to grow all the veggies and annual flowers that have made it onto my list for the coming season.

It isn't as if I really even need to buy any seeds at all. I've got three Seedkeeper Kits full of seeds and another box full of big bags of saved seed from previous seasons. I took inventory of my seed stash last weekend and honestly, I could probably supply my entire hometown with seeds for this year. (My hometown boasts a population of only 180, but still.)

The thing is, what I have here doesn't contain packets of some of the things I want. As I said before, I want to grow Brussels sprouts this year. Since they have a long growing season, I've considered buying young plants, but I've grown them from seed before and it's quite doable. Maybe I'll even grow the purple ones ('Red Rubine').

I want to grow tree cabbage, too. Not for eating, but for the novelty of it. Native to the  Channel Islands, that cabbage grows to heights nearing seven feet tall! How fun would that be? And it's doable here. 'Megaton' would be fun, too. Imagine a cabbage that grows to 22 inches in diameter! If we grow that, we're definitely going to need a bigger garden, because I'm not giving up bean or beet space.

'Tuscan' kale makes the list. I've never grown kale before and I've never eaten it before either, but I want to make some of those kale chips everyone was raving about last summer.

Purple okra bloom from my 2008 garden

There was a big bag of purple okra seeds in my saved seeds collection. It's been several years since I grew it, so I know the seeds aren't all that fresh. I'll overplant and thin them if I have to. The plants are gorgeous and okra is great to add to vegetable soup.

There are some annual flowers on my list, too. I skipped a year growing calendulas and I missed them. It's such an easy annual to grow and it will self-seed if you let it. Commonly called pot marigold, there are several varieties, and don't you know, I didn't find a single packet in my seed stash. Must buy some.

Moluccella laevis in my 2008 garden

I might try Bells of Ireland again. I've tried to grow this annual several times and while I get some seedlings, few of them ever make it to a large enough stage to produce those über cool stalks of green bells. Only once did I get to see them in my own garden.

If there's one flower that I've tried unsuccessfully to grow more than any other, it's the elusive Himalayan blue poppy. I bought seeds (again) when I was at Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island last summer. I've never had the privilege of seeing one in bloom in person and it might be that I never will. But I'm willing to give it another go.

Are you going to be trying something new this year?

Spring in the Heartland

Anemone coronaria

I love spring. Especially when it's in winter.

Except for a couple of times when we got some snow and ice, this winter has been anything but wintery. It doesn't feel like an extension of fall; it feels more like early spring. In just three more weeks, Punxsutawney Phil and Buckeye Chuck will be crawling out of their holes and telling us if we can expect an early spring or not.

I've got news for them - spring is already here.


All over the country, we hear about temperatures way above normal and it isn't just a fluke of a day here and there either. It's been like this for weeks, and plants are confused.

The daffodils are up...

Narcissus sp.

So are the Crocus...

Crocus fusctotinctus

The irises never really died down...

And the Dutch irises came up several weeks ago. Now all they need are blooms.

Iris x hollandica 'Silvery Beauty' and Felis catus 'Jack'

Magnolia 'Leonard Messel'

I worry about the magnolias, which always form their buds in fall, as do many other shrubs. I worry because they might take this warm weather as a sign that it's okay to just open up and bloom.

But there's no way we'll have extended warm weather. Will we?







If we do, the quince will surely bloom...

Chaenomeles superba 'Crimson and Gold'

Some of the roses still have flower buds on them - "frozen" in time - while others are leafing out.

The Snow in Summer (Cerastium tomentosum) foliage looks as good in winter as it does in summer - although a little shorter.

The 'Autumn Brilliance' fern looks gorgeous as the late day sun shines through its fronds.

Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'

The red-twig dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Cardinal') has it right, with its wintery red branches, which provide great contrast with the 'Color Guard' Yucca filamentosa.

Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' and Cornus sericea 'Cardinal'

The hellebores have beautiful green foliage (this is normal) and emerging flower buds (also normal)...

Helleborus sp.

The newly-planted golden feverfew looks as fresh as spring, despite being previously covered by the last snow. I love the frilly chartreuse foliage.

Golden Feverfew (Tanacetum partheneum 'Aureum')

"Best Winter Foliage" award probably goes to Arum italicum. Winter? What's winter?

Arum italicum

The vernal witch hazel is definitely early this year - about two months early.

Hamamelis vernalis

Who would have thought we'd still have petunias growing green in January???

Offspring of Wave™ Petunia, below the flower boxes where the
original Waves™ grew. No blooms, but still...

The biggest surprise in the January garden goes to the hydrangeas, which are leafing out.

St. Francis of Assisi stands watch over the
Hydrangea macrophylla, in leaf.
In January.

The birds are singing like it's spring too, but I'm certain winter will make a comeback soon. In fact, word on the street is that we're in for some very cold weather by late Thursday, with 2-4 inches of snow expected. Isn't that just like the Midwest?

Winter. Just when we were enjoying spring.