Flowering Dogwood

I’m guessing that we’re just past the peak of the Flowering Dogwood blooms.  It’s odd that the dogwood buds all began to swell and open at the same time, but where some hurried ahead to full bloom; others lagged behind and bloomed at a more leisurely pace.  We’ve now reached the point where the final dogwoods are blooming and the early developers have just a trace of white left on their branches.

In a typical year, all of the trees tend to bloom together.  It seems odd that in a year where the weather hurried many spring species through their blooming period, the Flowering Dogwoods would display such a sporadic pattern.

The Flowering Dogwoods managed to synchronize their showy phase with a series of frosty mornings.  The result is a display that is slightly less than perfect.  The bright white bracts all show traces of brown where the light freeze caused damage.

The actual flowers, clustered at the base of the bracts, appear free of damage.  There may be two dozen flowers in a cluster, but I normally find clusters of only four fruits in the fall.

Leaves are developing rapidly and will soon displace the flowers.  The summer phase of the tree is also quite attractive.  Unfortunately, its greens blend with its neighbor’s and the beauty goes unnoticed by most.  I always take time in the summer to visit with these trees and enjoy their warm weather personality. 

More Blooming Shrubs

The shrubs at Blue Jay Barrens really took advantage of the week of warm weather we just had.  Redbud flower buds were just beginning to color and swell a week ago.  Now they’re in full bloom.

Redbuds are the most colorful of the spring blooming shrubs and are a valuable nectar source for some butterflies and larger bees.  The flower shape makes it difficult for many of the smaller insects to access the nectar.

Fragrant Sumac flowers are normally available at the same time as the Redbuds and are much more insect friendly.  I see a greater diversity of insects visiting these flowers than any other spring blooming plant.

Serviceberry is known for its early blooms, but it’s blooming a full month earlier than it did last year.  I’m wondering what will happen to some of these shrubs if we manage to get a hard freeze this spring.  Freeze warnings have been posted for Tuesday morning, so I guess we’ll be having the first test really soon.

These are Prickly Ash flowers in full bloom.  If you get close enough to the bush to see these flowers, you’ll most likely get snagged on one of the many thorns that give Prickly Ash its name.

Other shrubs are making rapid progress, but have not yet reached the bloom stage.  The bracts have folded away from the Flowering Dogwood flower buds.  These flowers should be blooming by next week.

The bracts will continue to enlarge and lighten in color until they create a brilliant white frame to the cluster of small flowers.  The showy bracts are what create the impressive display.

Black Haw is producing clusters of flower buds and won’t be far behind the dogwoods in blooming.  It seems that spring is rushing past too quickly to enjoy everything. Last year at this time we had only been snowless for a couple of weeks and were enjoying the arrival of more moderate temperatures.  This year it feels like we’re already pushing into summer. 

Blooming Shrubs

A look at some common Blue Jay Barrens shrubs showed only one species to be in full bloom.  The Hazelnut, Corylus americana, is covered with flowers, but the small size of the bloom makes it nearly impossible to notice.

Hazelnut is one of those plants that produces separate male and female flowers.  The long male flowers, called catkins, are produced in the fall, but don’t mature until early spring.  When the scales of the catkin pull back and the color lightens to a pale green, the female flowers should be present.

Like many of our native shrubs, Hazelnut grows in the forest understory and effectively blends with its surroundings.

Buds of the Fragrant Sumac, Rhus aromatica, have not yet begun to enlarge.  It would not be surprising to see some of these flowers emerge within the next week.

Fragrant Sumac commonly grows at the edges of small openings or fields.  The blooms produce an abundant supply of nectar and are visited by a wide variety of insects.

Buds of the Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, are just beginning to swell.  The buds look to have suffered very little winter damage this year.  Hopefully, weather conditions will continue to support a good flower show.

All of the Flowering Dogwood branches are loaded with flower buds.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen such a good prelude to the flowering season.

Redbuds are pushing out from beneath their protective scales.  Blooming of the Redbuds coincides with the emergence of the Henry’s Elfin butterflies.  The tiny butterflies will mate and then lay their eggs on the young Redbud blooms.  The size of the Blue Jay Barrens population of this uncommon butterfly tends to fluctuate along with the success of the Redbud flowers.

Flowers of the Spicebush, Lindera benzoin, are not far from emergence.  That’s a leaf bud tucked in between the developing flowers.  I’ll be back later in the year to examine the leaves for larvae of the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly.

Dry Dogwoods

There’s a chance of rain today, but the effects of a ten week drought cannot be reversed. Blue Jay Barrens experienced excessive rainfall early in the year. It looked like plants might grow out of control, until the rain suddenly shut off in early July. During the past 6 weeks we have had only 0.15 inches of rain and that came in three separate showers. A drought becomes really serious when it begins to affect the shrubs and trees. The Flowering Dogwoods, Cornus florida, have become prime examples of drought stressed trees.

The bright red of the autumn dogwood leaves will be lost from the landscape this year. Many of the leaves are already brown and crisp. The others are too far gone to recover, even if we get abundant rainfall today.

The fruit seems to be alright. The seeds are fully developed and the red fruit should be attractive to the birds.

Most of these dogwoods were just recovering from the periodical cicada damage they suffered two years ago. This isn’t the first drought they’ve endured. I expect them to survive, but their start next year may be a little less vigorous than normal.

What happens to these buds will determine what things will be like next year. These enlarged terminal buds will be producing the flowers next spring. Continued dry weather could impair the development of the buds and cause a lack of flowers. No spring flowers means no fall fruit, so weather conditions during the next few weeks could have a major impact on fruit availability next year.

Flowering Dogwood

Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, has put on a wonderful show this spring. The tree’s horizontal branching pattern produces layers of flower rafts. The white bracts surrounding the flower clusters glow in the sunlight.

From below, you can see the reddish-brown spot at the tip of each bract.

The flowers are found at the base of the four white bracts. Some of the flowers have not yet opened, while others have been pollinated and are beginning to develop fruit.

The native bees are busily pollinating the flowers. I have yet to spend any time identifying the various bees found at Blue Jay Barrens. I’m at that point where I can imagine thousands of species of bees, because I see thousands of bees and can’t identify more than a couple of them. With most groups of organisms, a little bit of study allows you to identify many of the common species or genera. Then your whole perspective changes as you are suddenly able to sort a mass of individuals into a few species or types. I’m fortunate that my lack of knowledge of so many things will provide me with unending opportunities to experience the joys of learning.

The dogwood has a simple leaf, but there is often great beauty in the simple things. The neat lines and graceful curves of the new leaves are just as attractive as the flowers.

Most of the Flowering Dogwoods at Blue Jay Barrens are found in the open fields, growing in the low pH shale soils. Twenty-five years ago, they were common understory trees in the woods. About 20 years ago the trees succumbed to Anthracnose Leaf Blight caused by the fungus Discula destructiva. The trees in cool shaded areas were most susceptible to the disease and were completely destroyed. A few small trees survived in fencerows and there were sprouts beginning in the fields. We went many years without any dogwood blooms. I began a policy of allowing Flowering Dogwoods to stay in the fields where they seem to be less susceptible to the disease. I’m looking forward to the day when they reach a size that approaches those that were lost.

It appears that Crab Spiders are going to be plentiful this year. I’ve been seeing many types in the different flowers.

An Old Dogwood

This old Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, has lost a part of itself. Not an uncommon occurrence for trees in the wild. The part that dropped off was dead, but recently accounted for about a quarter of the tree’s leaf mass.

The point of detachment. It doesn’t look like this branch had a very good hold to begin with. A lot of scars and dead wood don’t make for a strong tree.

Many of the big Dogwoods in this area have been lost to disease. It’s not often you get to visit with one that is old enough to display the characteristic alligator bark pattern.

There’s a lot of decomposition going on inside this tree. I doubt that any of these branches are very strong.

The tree’s troubled past has left a comfortable looking bench seat, but I’ll not try it. I would feel pretty bad, probably in more ways than one, if my weight caused this branch to break loose.

More bad news here. This is an awfully anguished branching pattern. What troubles this tree must have had.

The leaves are looking pretty good. A little spotty, but no worse than those on some of the younger specimens. This guy’s not giving up.

There’s even new fruit developing. That’s a sure sign of vitality.

Maybe the fruit’s just a valiant last effort. This is also new fruit and those are dead leaves. I love big Dogwoods and hope this one stays around for a long time. I have confidence that this tree will prosper despite its present difficulties. To show my support, I may go back and sit on that branch.