Cornus alba Elegantissima - White Dogwood

Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' is a variety of white dogwood with green-grey foliage irregularly marginated with white, and with bright red branches. This medium-sized bushy and branching shrub reaches approximately 2.50m (8ft) in all directions. It has a discreet, cream-white flowering in late spring, soon followed by white berries with a bluish tinge at the end of the season. It reveals through the pale rays of winter the surprising red framework of its branches. It is a vigorous and hardy, versatile bush, with a well-ramified base despite the years. Ideal for creating an elegant screen, in ordinary soil and full sun.

Cornus alba or White dogwood belongs to the dogwood family. It is native to Siberia, on the banks of the Amur River, Russia, in moist deciduous and coniferous forests, and Manchuria. It is always found near watercourses, under harsh and contrasting climates which are proof of its robustness. The very popular selection 'Elegantissima', sometimes encountered under the name C. alba 'Argenteo-marginata', shows a bushy, abundant habit, reaching 2 to 3m (9 to 10ft) in all directions. It is a branching shrub, with the appearance of a thicket, with fairly rapid growth. Its branches are red and shiny, both when young and older, and they do not become bare at the base. The deciduous green-grey foliage gradually variegates with white over the months, ending in reddish-orange before leaf fall. The leaves are entire, ovate, distinctly veined, measuring approximately 5 to 10cm (3.9in) in length. Its flowering is not its main asset, quite discreet, in the form of small yellowish-white flowers arranged in cymes, nectar-bearing. It is followed by fruiting with creamy-white berries containing oily seeds, which turn bluish when ripe. The lower branches form shoots or root in the soil, without the shrub being invasive.

Regardless of the size and style of the garden, there will always be a dogwood to provide a beautiful decoration. The 'Elegantissima' white dogwood offers a renewed spectacle throughout the year, whether integrated into a bed, a mixed hedge, or even on the edge of a woodland to create a transition with the countryside. Its association with Helianthus, Heliopsis, or daylilies will form a very colourful scene. As it is a shrub that thrives by the water's edge, it can be installed, with Cornus stolonifera 'Flaviramea' with yellow bark, behind a foreground of Astilbes, not far from a pond.