Wednesday, January 09, 2008

ABC Wednesday - Y is for Yellowtwig Dogwood

Yellowtwig Dogwood
Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'
(KOR-nus) (ser-IK-ee-uh)
Synonyms: Yellowstem Dogwood, Golden Twig Dogwood

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.

When I took these pictures about a month ago I thought that it would be a good ‘Y’ post. Yellowtwig Dogwood is a favorite winter plant of mine. I love to see it in masses and I often plant it with Redtwig Dogwood. It looks good in leaf and the summer flowers give way to white berries but the real show is the winter color of the twigs. They do take a little bit of managing as only the younger twigs show the best color so you have to remember to prune them during the spring. They can also get quite large if left to their own devices. I have seen them up to 10 feet tall and like to keep mine at about 6 feet.


Yellowtwig is hardy done to -45.5 °C (-50 °F)! It also tolerates moist and even wet conditions. It is not fussy as to soil and propagation is easily done by layering some of the sucker branches (you can do it by cuttings, also). It is a nice plant and can be used singly in the small garden but as I said I much prefer it in large masses. There is one cultivar that I am familiar with its called ‘Budd’s Yellow’ and does seem to be a little brighter and heavier branched than the species. There is also a slower, smaller growing variegated cultivar, which I think is called ‘Silver and Gold’.

Here is a link to Wikipedia with everything you want to know about Yellow .


One thing I learned is that yellow’s complimentary color is indigo. It has taken awhile but I have really begun to love yellow in the garden, both with flowers and foliage. A quick search for ‘yellow’ in image titles on my hard drives yielded 339 items. Many have been posted on this blog before but here is a real yellow Plumeria flower that I took on the quiet end of Duval Street in Key West, Florida.


Another bright yellow flower from the archives. This is Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise') and it often blooms in late January or early February here in Connecticut. The flowers are very fragrant and come in a couple of different colors. Witch Hazel can turn into a large shrub and is nice planted with several together.


Here is the ABC Wednesday Blogroll:

23 comments:

bonnie said...

I like yellow too for "Y." I am struggling with creating a scroll box. Ugh!

Oswegan said...

Some beautiful shots.

~Oswegan

kml said...

I never know what witch hazel looked like - it's beautiful!

mrsnesbitt said...

yellow on a grey day here......just what is needed to remind us spring is on its way! LOL!

Pete M said...

fantastic, how to make yellow look cool

i beati said...

witch hazel lovelier than its name

dot said...

Never heard of that dogwood before nor seen witch hazel. Your pictures are beautiful!

photowannabe said...

The same with me. I have learned something new today. Great Y post.

Unknown said...

Great shots. You make me want to get out there and garden. Well, maybe not, it's too cold yet.

RUTH said...

I've seen some wondeful colours in Dogwoods here this year. Love your Witch Hazel too.

Mark said...

Hi Chris,
That Witch Hazel has to be one of my favourite pictures that you have put on here, absolutely love it.

Le Butterfly said...

Beautiful.
What a great idea - the ABC thing.
Thanks for dropping by.

NYCindividual said...

Great Y photo!

Annie said...

I didn't know before today about yellow twig dogwood. I did know about red twig dogwood though, and how beautiful it looks poking up through the snowy landscape.

Missy said...

you are an awesome photographer!

Rune Eide said...

Lots of delicious yellow and good information too. Not to mention pictures. I don't have a clue though, whether we have yellowtwig dogwood over here!

DigitalShutterMania said...

Fantastic photos for this ABC Wednesday: ) I think there is a flower that looks like the flower called "Witch Hazel" in Thailand and we name it as "Lee La Wa Dee" which is mean "beautiful woman".

Cheers,
Suwat Po.
Digitalshuttermania Blogger

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Thanks for the comments everyone. Witch Hazel is a great flower and I would recommend it for Northern gardeners especially it is such a welcome sight towards the end of winter.

Max-e said...

Looks like we were both into yellow this week - only mine was cars.
I have heard of dogwood, but never knew what it was - now I do. Nice pics

Neva said...

Making the rounds late.....but I love the yellowwood dogwood. I have a redwood dog bush that I love in the winter time.....nice yellow.

AVCr8teur said...

I wonder if Witch Hazel comes in another color as well. Been thinking about planting some colorful flowers in the front yard.

Hin Man said...

Again, I am very late into visiting you. I am so glad that I pick you as the 1st to visit, your yellow picture inspire me to find my yellow picture. Forgive me not, all the best in 2008. Belated Happy New Year to you.

Unknown said...

I love the Plumeria. It looks so big and happy from that angle!

1st time visit to your blog... You're photography is lovely!

I also started a photo blog not too long ago and would love to exchange links, if you are interested. You can visit it at http://photosforthefunofit.blogspot.com.
I found you're blog through Bloghop, but funny thing is, we have a link in common, David's Images of Nature.