Growing And Using Dogwood
I have two bushes of dogwood in our garden. There are many variants of dogwood. In the summer the species I have in our garden is a large yet unremarkable plant. It does get tiny white flowers and small white berries and the leaves are quite pretty, but there are certainly more beautiful looking plants around. So why does Dogwood deserve a place in my garden? For me with dogwood it's all about the stems. I grow red-stemmed dogwood as we love the colour red. In the late autumn when most of the leaves have fallen I cut about half of the stems. These stems are now very tall some are six feet high or more. Many are very straight, some are twisted or curved it depends how they have grown. So these stems are cut to size and in winter I use them to decorate our home. Some of the more unusual shapes and curves go into clear vases where the red stems and shapes really shine through. Others I tie up into a rustic bundle and place in a natural wicker basket by the fire. T...