Cornus Florida Red Giant Flowering Dogwood

Cornus Florida Red Giant (Dogwood Red Giant) is a deciduous, small multi-stemmed tree with showy pinkish-red flower bracts in spring. It’s a good choice as an ornamental tree for low maintenance gardens and mixed informal flower beds.

Cornus or Dogwood is a large genus ranging from creeping shrubs to flowering trees. Cornus Florida are beautiful North American dogwoods, native to north America’s light woodlands and hedgerows but grow strongly here in the UK as small trees with showy bracts and good autumn colour. The cultivar Red Giant is a profuse bloomer when it’s mature. In spring, ovate dark green leaves emerge on its strong framework that’s often wider than it is tall. The foliage stays dark green until autumn approaches when it matures to rich shades of red and purple. Foliage tends to fall when the frosts arrive.
In early summer, numerous flower bracts appear in cluster of four, surrounding small yellow-green insignificant flowers. The flower bracts are pinkish-red with paler bases and tip margins. In late summer small red fruits emerge which are attractive to the birds.

This is a particularly beautiful flowering dogwood with excellent autumn colour and profuse blush-rich flower bracts in summer. It fills your garden with interest all year round.

Height And Spread of Cornus Florida Red Giant
Flowering Dogwood Red Giant is slow growing. It’ll reach about five metres in height and spread over 20-50 years.

How Hardy Is Cornus Florida Red Giant
Hardy down to freezing temperatures if the roots are well-drained, this is a hardy Florida dogwood that withstands drought once it’s established.

How To Use Cornus Florida Red Giant
Red Giant is a beautiful, showy specimen tree for a sheltered garden and isn’t out of place in an informal mixed border. Its long-lasting pink flower bracts are eye-catching and because the blooms are so numerous it seems to flower all summer long.

How To Care For Cornus Florida Red Giant
Dogwoods will grow in most soil types including sand or chalk, but they prefer neutral to acidic soil. Flowering Dogwood Red Giant will manage in alkaline ground if you fill its planting hole with lots of pine or bracken-based compost and mulch it every year with acid-based mulch.
It needs full sun to partial shade and a spot that’s sheltered from strong winds that damage its flower bracts. Pruning isn’t required, but as with most Florida dogwoods, you can remove crossed or damaged branches in winter before new growth appears.

Water it well until established and apply acid-based mulch every year for the best flower show.