What Kind of Dogwood Will Survive in Texas?

Eastern Dogwood

• Spring in East Texas would be incomplete without white-flowering dogwood displays of Eastern dogwood (Cornus florida). In the landscape this small tree and its cultivars prefer the shade of taller pine trees and require well-drained, slightly acidic, sandy loam soil; they’re intolerant of clay or poorly drained soils. U. S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones are 5 to 9 for Eastern dogwood and its cultivars, but all require protection from afternoon sun, partial shade and layers of mulch to help keep soil moist and cool during hot summers.

Eastern Dogwood Cultivars

• Over the past century numerous cultivars of the popular Eastern dogwood have been developed for leaf variegation, flower color, height and growth rate. Popular cultivars include ruby-red flowered “Cherokee Chief” (Cornus florida “Cherokee Chief”), red-flowered and colorfully-variegated leaved “Cherokee Sunset” (Cornus florida “Cherokee Sunset”), white-flowered “Cherokee Daybreak” (Cornus florida “Cherokee Daybreak), and white-flowered “Cherokee Princess” (Cornus florida “Cherokee Princess”).

Growing Eastern Dogwoods

• Knowledgeable gardeners claim that Eastern dogwoods won’t grow in the western two-thirds of Texas. The majority of Texas soils tend to consist of heavy clay although occasional pockets of sandy loam soil exist. If shade, drainage and soil requirements can be met, it is possible to grow this small tree in other parts of the state. The Lost Pines area east of Austin near Bastrop provides acidic, well-drained soils and excellent conditions for Eastern dogwoods.

  Author and landscape designer Sally Wasowski believes dogwoods are more sensitive drainage than soil acidity and has three small dogwoods growing over limestone in her Austin yard. She demonstrates that growing Eastern dogwoods outside of East Texas is risky, but possible.

Native Shrub Dogwoods

• Native dogwood shrubs lack the seasonal showy display of Eastern dogwood. Rough-leafed dogwood (Cornus drummondii), a Texas native, grows naturally in moist soil along creeks and in bottomlands. This dogwood, which forms dense clumps or can become a small tree, grows in USDA zones 7 to 8 in full sun and partial shade and adapts to moist rich clay, loam or alkaline soils.

Shrub Dogwoods

• Numerous native dogwood shrubs from other plant zones and states grow in Texas with soil modification. Colorful red or yellow twigs on dogwoods extend garden appeal into four seasons. Due to their general intolerance of clay soils and hot summers, only a few ornamental shrub dogwoods are considered worth recommending.

  The adaptable yellow-twigged variegated dogwood “Silver and Gold” (Cornus sericea “Silver and Gold”) is found in USDA zones 2 to 8 and in full-sun to part-sun conditions with medium to wet soil; it's known to tolerate clay. Texas humidity can challenge this plant but it will grow in the cooler Texas zones.

  Red twig dogwood (Cornus alba “Elegantissima”) has variegated leaves and blood red stems. It also grows in USDA zones 2 to 8 with full sun to part sun preferring well-drained soil. This requires more effort and soil modification with heavy mulching to help keep the roots cooler but the red stems justify the effort for many gardeners.