This Redosier Dogwood is a northern species that grows way up north into most of Canada, the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky mountains, the northern Plains, all Minnesota & Wisconsin & Michigan, northern and central Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, areas of West Virginia & Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England in bogs, swamps, bottomlands, and along lakes and watercourses. Its most popular characteristic is that the stems turn bright red in late fall-winter- early spring. It bears creamy, 2 inch wide flower clusters in late May and early June that develop to clusters of white berries in August-September that are loved by many birds. It develops a good red fall color. it is fast growing and easy to transplant or move bare root. It is a well-known shrub that is offered by most all nurseries and is common in people's yards and in landscapes by landscape designers. This species should not be placed on hills or berms where the soil gets dry as it can not stand drought. It needs full sun as best so it will be less likely to suffer from leaf spots and stems cankers caused by fungi. It must be pruned by cutting larger stems to the ground when they start turning gray-brown and leaving some smaller stems to replace them. Never shear as a hedge as stem canker will be bad. I have seen deer feed on this species. The Siberian Redtwig Dogwood is very similar and is also sold a lot, and the only way to tell them apart is that this Redosier is sort of stoloniferous by sending out stems along the ground and this native species has the stone or seed in the fruit as being broad as high or slightly broader, rounded at base; while the Asian species has the seed higher than broad and flattened at each end.

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Cornus sericea is a larval host plant for the Spring Azure Butterfly.

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Honey bees get nectar and pollen from this plant.

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Native in Canada, USA (Pacific NW, NE, Central) and Mexico. Found in forest understory, often in boggy areas. Multi-season plant: red bark in winter, white flowers in spring, berries in summer, and golden red leaves in fall. Provides fruit for the birds, and browse for deer. This is a great native plant to add to your landscaping for a pop. It also makes a nice screening thicket if planted en masse.

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Red-twig dogwood shrub is my go-to plant for quick hedgerow or an accent plant. It propagates and transplants easily and cuttings root very quickly. Will even work for foundation planting with dedicated pruning. Very hardy in my zone 6 shady yard, but the shrubs do well with just a few hours of sunlight per day.

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