Tag: Gray Dogwood

Buzzing Bushes

Native to the eastern and central United States and Canada, Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) is in bloom right now.

As I approach the tall bushes I can hear them as I get near. A very loud buzzing. The creamy white flowers have all sorts of insects collecting pollen.

A few days ago I mentioned these buzzing bushes to a friend who raises Honey Bees, since many of the insects I see are indeed Honey Bees. She asked me if the blooms are fragrant. I hadn’t even noticed but this afternoon I checked it out. Bad news, they do have an aroma but it’s not nice. I looked it up on the Internet to see what other people think and I see others do agree – “musky skunk”, “somewhat musky”, and “considered unpleasant by many people”. I didn’t see any positive description.

Oh well, the buzzing is mighty fascinating!

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White Berries

Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa). White berries, not red, as we would normally expect on another member of the same genus (Cornus), a Flowering Dogwood tree.

Those white berries, sitting on bright crimson pedicles, that to me look like miniature trees. Those pedicles lasting through the winter.

Gray Dogwoods send out suckers from their rhizomes, creating dense thickets. They make great nesting sites for birds, and shelter for birds and small animals.

Another part of Mother Nature’s world that is pure pleasure to watch as each season goes by.

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Dogwood Blooming In June

Leaves of Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)

There are somewhere between 30 to 60 species of Dogwood in the family Cornaceae. This one, Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa), is quite different in many ways from the Dogwood that I’m most familiar with, Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. But first, the leaves look very similar, and they are both opposite.

Gray Dogwood is in full bloom, as I am writing this, in June. Unlike my familiar Flowering Dogwood, with its large blooms, this Gray Dogwood’s flowers are very small and many, which grow together in rounded clusters.

As summer turns to autumn, the Gray Dogwood’s flowers turn to berries, and not crimson red berries, but creamy white berries, which birds love.

And along with those berries in autumn, come leaves turning lovely colors. And another difference – not the rich red of Flowering Dogwood leaves, but yellow with a hints of burgundy to add to the fiesta of fall.