Plant Min Zone: 5a
Plant Max Zone: 9a
Sunlight: Full Sun, Part Sun, Shade
Water / Rainfall: Low, Average
Soil Quality: Average, Rich
Bloom Season: Early Summer
Flower Color: Yellowish White
Berry / Fruit Color: White
Spring Foliage Color: Yellowish Green
Summer Foliage Color: Yellowish Green
Fall Foliage Color: Yellow
Evergreen Foliage: No
Winter Interest: Yes
Scented Flowers: No
Drought Tolerance: Medium, High
Wet-Feet Tolerance: Medium, High
Humidity Tolerance: Medium, High
Wind Tolerance: Medium, High
Poor Soil Tolerance: Clay Soils, Rocky Soils, Sandy Soils
Height: 5' - 10'
Width: 4' - 6'
Growth Rate: Medium
Service Life: Very Long: 10-20 years
Maintenance Need: Low
Spreading Potential: Low
Yearly Trimming Tips: Selectively Prune into Small Tree Shape over Period of Many Years or Top Each Year to Maintain Shrub Form.
Plant Grouping Size: Medium Grouping of 5-10, Mass Planting of 10 or more
Best Side of House: East Exposure, North Exposure
Extreme Planting Locations: Tolerates Damp Full Shade, Top of Retaining Wall Locations, Base of Retaining Wall Locations, Resistant to Rabbits
Ornamental Features: Other Features not listed
Special Landscape Uses: Erosion Control, Hedge Row, Naturalizing
Possible Pest Problems: Foliage Disease
Plant Limitations: Aggressive Rhizomes / Runners, May Be Too Invasive for Garden Use
Rough-leaf dogwood is a suckering shrub or rarely a small tree to 15 ft. It is native woodland edges and tall-grass prairie ravines in Kansas olong with the Great Plains and Midwestern regions of the United States. This dogwood is easily recognized by the rough, upper leaf surfaces with flat-topped clusters of creamy-yellow flowers and white fruit on reddish brown or gray twigs. Fall color is purplish-red. Cream-white flowers about 1/4 inch wide, with 4 petals characteristic of all dogwoods. Numerous flowers are in broad clusters at the ends of branches, appearing from April to early June. White fruit then appears in late summer and early fall. A favorite of many wild birds, the fruit is usually stripped clean within a couple weeks. It spreads from root sprouts and provides cover for wildlife and erosion control along ditches. Other uses of roughleaf dogwood include buffer strip around parking lots, highway medians, dust screens along country roads, and naturalizing. It will grow in full sun or full shade in medium to dry soils including dry-shade. However, fall color is quite a bit reduced in full shade. Because of its tolerance for adverse conditions including poor soil and rock, it is often one of the last resort plants that will survive in certain areas. For the home garden, the species is generally too aggressive to mix with other plants especially when irrigated and growing in rich soil. However, in a difficult dry-shade garden, it will thrive, flower, and be relatively tame with little spreading.