Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ (also called Common dogwood 'Midwinter Fire')
Cornus
sanguinea
‘Midwinter Fire’
Clump forming deciduous shrub, mainly grown for winter stems which are shaded from yellow, through orange, to red and look very striking when they are bare of leaves during winter. It looks especially good when grown next to a pond or stream, so that the stems are reflected in the water.
Red/gold foliage in autumn, but mainly grown for richly coloured winter stems.
Upright habit, fast growing, spreads by creeping underground stems. H: 2m. S: 2.5m.
Leaf ovate, smooth edged, mid-green, turning red/gold in autumn.
Stems smooth, round, bright orange/red.
Small white flowers in late spring and early summer, followed by spherical blue-black fruits.
Sun or partial shade, though full sun gives the best winter stem colour.
Fertile well drained soil.
Hardy to -25c.
Slower growing than C. sericea so cut out only half of the stems back to two buds in March/April. Pruning promotes more of the colourful young stems to grow, but feed the plant well after pruning to give it the strength it needs to produce these.
Hardwood cuttings in autumn or winter. For autumn cuttings, plant outside in a sheltered spot.
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