Stellar Pink®
Dogwood Cornus x 'Rutgan'Large, overlapping flower bracts cover this small tree in early spring. The habit of growth is fully branched from bottom to top. Plant where the soft pink flowers can be viewed up close. Deciduous.
Product Details
Key Feature:
Improved Disease Resistance
Plant Type:
Tree
Deciduous/Evergreen:
Deciduous
Cold Hardiness Zones:
5 - 8
Light Needs:
Partial to full sun
Sunset Climate Zones:
3 - 9, 14 - 17
Water Needs:
Needs regular watering - weekly, or more often in extreme heat.
Average Landscape Size:
Vigorous growth to 25 ft. tall and as wide.
Growth Rate:
Fast
Growth Habit:
Pyramidal
Flower Attributes:
Showy Flowers
Special Features:
Attracts Birds
Fall Color
Improved Pest and Disease Resistance
Showy Fruit
Year-round Interest
Landscape Uses:
Woodland Garden
Flower Color:
Pink
Blooms:
Early spring
Foliage Color:
Green
Item no.:
2758
Care Information:
Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. Pruning time: winter.
Design Ideas:
An elegant accent tree for high profile front yard whether planted in lawns or in beds with more diverse under planting. Makes a stellar focal point in backyard landscape and will draw the eye from a distance. Equally good for shade and interest up close beside porch, patio or terrace. Plant trees perfectly aligned with picture windows or sliding glass door to enjoy its seasonal changes from indoors. One of the best for adding midlevel interest beneath canopies of giant old shade trees. Set into a woodland composition to ease the transition to wildland and to provide more diversity to the understory.
History:
In the late 20th century a disease struck Cornus florida both in culivation and in the wild causing the death of millions of trees in North American. Breeding efforts by Dr. Elwin Orton of Rutgers University resulted in the Rutgers Stellar Series dogwoods considered highly resistant to dogwood borer and moderately to highly resistant to dogwood anthracnose. The trees are a cross between C. florida, a native of the American southeastern states and C. kousa, the Japanese dogwood. The Stellar series blooms slightly later and lacks fruit.
Lore:
When the native dogwoods bloomed, Native Americans that farmed the flood plains knew it was time to plant their corn. Dogwood is considered such a hard wood it was used to make high stress implements by all cultures within its range.