Flowering Dogwood

Cornaceae - Dogwood Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 21
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida

Spring

Flowering Dogwood in the spring

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood, in the spring

The Dogwood trees are so beautiful this time of year!!!!  The leaves are opening up and growing by the hour.  Some trees are in full flower and some are leafing out.  It is a wonder filled time of year.

Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, in the spring

Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, in the spring

The Flowering Dogwood Tree in March

A flowering Dogwood in April.  

The Dogwood Tree - Cornus florida

The beautiful Dogwood is in full spring bloom in the mountains of North Carolina.  I am always in awe of this incredible display of flowers in the sky, and always look so forward to April to see this sight again.

Summer

The Flowering Dogwood Tree in July

The flowering dogwood has these little green berry-like fruits called drupes during the summer. The leaves are getting a bit worn come summer time. However, to see this tree on a July summer day with the fun filtering through the leaves, well, I am not sure it gets much better.

Many animals and birds will depend on these drupes for food when they ripen in September.  The drupes will be bright red by September and can usually be seen on the trees until December.

The Flowering Dogwood tree in July.  The veins on the Dogwood leaves are quite distinctive the way they all curve up towards the tip of the leaf.

Fall

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood in the fall

Fall Flowering Dogwood Tree

Beautiful red berries,

A fall red blush,

I can not pass by without pausing

and being grateful for this moment.

Winter

The Flowering Dogwood Tree

This Flowering Dogwood lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens. http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

You can always recognize the beautiful flowering dogwood tree by it's very distinctive bark. The bark is broken up into little interesting shaped pieces. You can also identify this tree by it's buds that are all upright and remind me of little birthday candles all over the tree. Sunsets and dogwoods can paint such beautiful scenes.

Flowering Dogwood Bark

The drops of rain on the dogwood tree were so beautiful on every limb. The winter dogwood tree stands out with its thousands of limbs lifting up to the sky with buds on the ends of each limb. The water droplets shining like small diamonds in the morning light looks like stars.

For the love of the trees,

Becky