Stellar Pink Dogwood

In the Garden: Plenty of blooms in June

June is the month for roses, strawberries and a variety of perennials in bloom. Annuals will begin their full color display after mid-month.

Last year, a struggling bleeding heart plant was moved to a new location with better growing conditions. With some TLC, it has become a sight to behold in the last two Mays. The delicate pink "hearts" identify this common species.

What the weather will be for early summer is unknown --no predictions from me. Usually I'm way off base and only time will tell. My primary wish is that we will be spared from strong storms or a tornado.

Enjoy the strawberry shortcake with flavorful homegrown strawberries and of course fresh-baked, warm rhubarb-strawberry pie. What a fabulous dessert for the month of June.

» 13 June bloomers: 1. Dicentra (bleeding heart), old-fashioned pink; 2. Iberis (candytuft), white; 3. Coreopsis, yellow; 4. Hemerocallis (Stella daylily), yellow; 5. Delphinium, blue; 6. Baptisia (false indigo), blue; 7. Brunnera (false forget-me-not), light blue; 8. Tall bearded iris, many colors; 9. Kousa dogwood ornamental tree, white; 10. Paeonia, (peony), red, white, pink; 11. Papaver (oriental poppy), red, pink, salmon; 12. Harison's yellow rose, yellow, blooms once a year; 13. Achillea (yarrow), yellow.

» Water garden: If a water garden is on the agenda for this year, remember that site selection is a key to success.

Ideally, the site should receive at least six hours of sun daily.

Most aquatic plants flourish in a sunny location. A shady location hinders good plant growth and produces debris such as leaves and twigs, which increases maintenance.

Do some research before staring a water garden project. The first year, try a variety of plants to determine the better choices for flowers, growth and color appeal.

» Owl program: 8 p.m. Saturday, Gorman Nature Center. Program titled "Guess Whoo's Coming for Dinner." Learn about the habits and habitats of owls in Ohio. It'll be a hoot! This program is rescheduled from February's snowed-out date. Jan Ferrell is in charge of program.

» Bonsai show: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Ohio Regional Bonsai Show at Dawes Arboretum at Newark.

This is the 31st Ohio regional show, with entries from Ohio and neighboring states.

Some of the region's leading bonsai artists will demonstrate their skills at no charge. Vendors will be present to sell supplies, pots, tools and beautiful plants. An ideal opportunity to learn about bonsai.

The other dogwoods « Ramblin' through Dave's Garden

Speeding down a winding road in the hills of northern Fauquier county a few days ago I saw a few native dogwoods blooming along the highway. The dogwoods in my garden are usually a week later than others in the neighborhood, and mine finished blooming two weeks ago, so I was delighted to see a few white blooms peeking out from the forest’s green.

The native dogwoods (Cornus florida, above) are closely followed in bloom by hybrid dogwoods introduced by Rutgers University that are a cross between our native and late spring flowering Chinese dogwoods (Cornus kousa). While our native is susceptible to a variety of fungus and disease issues, the vigorous Rutgers’ hybrids and Chinese dogwoods are not bothered at all.

In my garden there are five native dogwoods, two hybrids, and a handful of Chinese dogwoods so that there are continuous dogwood blooms from mid April into June. Though the foliage of native dogwoods is often spotted and somewhat disfigured when rainfall is abundant and humidity is high, I have not experienced any more than cosmetic damage, and the trees have grown tall and full.

Ten years ago (though my recollection could be off by several years) I planted a white flowering hybrid ‘Aurora’ and pink ‘Stellar Pink’ (above). At the start both grew aggressively but flowered sparsely, and I was prepared to categorize the hybrids as failures. After a third spring there were more blooms, but ‘Aurora’ fell victim to a poorly chosen, overly damp location, and it steadily declined from late spring until the year’s end. It was removed when it failed to leaf out the following spring.

‘Stellar Pink’ continued to grow vigorously, and each year brought more abundant blooms. However, large maples and a native black gum from the forest’s edge began to encroach and shade the dogwood, so that I feared it would decline. To the contrary, ‘Stellar Pink’ grew through the arching maple branches so that there is an upper tier where flowers cover the tree’s canopy, and a lower tier where they are less dense.

The growth habit of ‘Stellar Pink’ is much faster and more upright than other dogwoods, but I find that the designation as pink in color is a bit of a misnomer since the flowers rarely exhibit more than a blush of pink on otherwise white blooms. In a few damp, cool springs the flowers have been more pink, but this spring has been both cool and wet, and the blooms show barely a trace of pink.

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