Pacific DogwoodCornus nuttalliiHeight: 35' average mature height Zones: 6-8 Find my zone Aspect: partial shade to mostly sun, full sun in cooler climates Watering: needs occasional summer irrigation, about one deep watering cycle per month once established Maximum Water: tolerates occasional winter flooding but needs drier soil in the summer Habit: clump forming with multiple stems Flowers In: May, June Foliage: deciduous Growth Rate: medium Native To: CA, ID, OR, WA
This plant can't be shipped to Florida
Size Availability
Out of season.
Our main crop of most plants is available starting in late fall.
Additional batches of plugs and quarts are added throughout the year.
Many of our plants are propagated in limited quantities and can sell out quickly when posted, get on the notification list below so you don't miss out. Add your email to be notified as soon as we have them back in stock:
This does NOT subscribe your email to any mailing lists, our system will only send an inventory notification message.
Production notes: in production most years but is unavailable in some due to limited seed/division material or finicky propagation
The Pacific Dogwood is one of the largest dogwood species and is native along the pacific coast from Canada south in Mexico. It grows in the hills above our nursery and is commonly found in the medium elevation woods in the Applegate Valley. Unlike most other dogwood species,
Cornus nuttallii
often flowers several times each year rather than just once in the spring. The heaviest flowers appear in mid spring but another round of flowers appear again in June, usually followed by another round of flowers in August.
What really sets the Pacific Dogwood apart from other species, however, is its unique fall color. Most dogwood species produce dark purple-red leaves in the fall, but
Cornus nuttallii
turns red at first but then transitions to a strawberry lemonade pink that is highly translucent. On sunny fall days the tall trees glow pink as the sun shines through the leaves. We have never been able to capture how bright the leaves are on camera but the leaves are stunning in person.
Growing Conditions
Pacific Dogwood can be a little bit tricky to get established in gardens, it requires partial shade to begin with in hot climates even though older trees will tolerate bright sunny conditions. We have found that Pacific Dogwood requires fairly regular irrigation for the first few years to get established but also requires deep, well drained soil at the same time. The deep root system of Pacific Dogwood can't thrive in clay soils without good drainage and we have found that planting them on 2-3' tall mounds or berms allows for enough drainage in our silt-clay soil. If you have a decent slope to plant these on then that should be good enough but otherwise building raised planting beds 2-3 feet tall makes a huge difference for slow draining soils.
In Southern Oregon we usually find Pacific Dogwood growing in open forests in steep, rocky slopes in somewhat moist to somewhat dry sites, although typically not the hot south facing slopes. They resprout vigorously from the roots following fire and seem to do fine with full sun after the forests have been cleared by fire but new seedlings won't seem to establish until after a high shade develops to get them through the summer in our hot climate. In the cooler northern climates the seedlings can establish without the protection of an open forest much more reliably.
Close up of the flowers, you can see the seed structures already developing in the center
Image Credit: Heritage Seedlings
A young plant covered in white flowers.
Image Credit: Commons
The pink fall color on a Pacific Dogwood tree 
Pink color when viewed from the top 
Pink Pacific Dogwood leaves on tree-sized Cornus nuttallii in a woodland setting 
The sun shines through the fall leaves and makes them glow 
Cornus nuttallii - Pacific Dogwood displaying its gorgeous fall color
Packing Plants For ShippingWe pack our plants depending on the needs of each species and size, most plants ship best with the roots packed in moist sawdust or bark fines but some species don't like root disturbance and are shipped in a soil-less growing media. Excess soil is washed from the roots in preparation for shipping (18-24" White Pines)  Plants are bundled together to fit in boxes  Bundles of plants are secured in long boxes. Plant Sizes 3 gallon Dawn Redwood  Standard quart shrub  Standard 14-18" multi-stem tree size  Standard deep plug pine tree Bamboo Plants Are Shipped In Their ContainersBamboo roots are not flexible and so plants have to be shipped in their containers. These plants are heavier and are shipped separately from bare root plants. Because they are potted they can handle longer transit times so can ship via UPS Ground instead of USPS Air Mail. Potted plants can also be shipped year-round.We regularly top our 1 gallon bamboo plants at 24-30 inches tall throughout the growing season. This results in dense, bushy foliage while allowing for economical shipping. From this size most running species will grow to 5-6 feet tall in the first spring and clumping species will usually grow to 4-5 feet tall.  1 gallon bamboo plants strapped in and ready to be sealed. Unpacking Bare Root PlantsYou will be sent tracking details as soon as your plants are shipped. Unpack your plants as quickly as possible after they are delivered. We use two types of boxes, side-sealing and top-sealing. For boxes that are taped along the whole length you can cut the tape on either side and remove the plant bundles by cutting the tape holding the bundle to the bottom. For boxes that are sealed on the top and bottom, it is easiet to open the bottom of the box (the shipping label is at the top) and pull the bundle of plants out straight out. Check that the box is empty as there can be a second bundle of plants stuck towards the top. A bundle of trees. What if I am not able to plant right away?You can usually leave the plants in their shipping container unopened for 1-2 days if there were no shipping delays and you have received your plants from late November through February. Plants shipped when it is warmer can't stay in their packages for as long.For longer term storage of plants you can pot them up or plant them in rows close together temporarily and then pull them out later in the spring to be planted again. This keeps the roots moist while allowing for air flow to the tops. The roots should have good contact with the soil to ensure they have access to adequate moisture. |
Size Availability
Out of season.
Our main crop of most plants is available starting in late fall.
Additional batches of plugs and quarts are added throughout the year.
Many of our plants are propagated in limited quantities and can sell out quickly when posted, get on the notification list below so you don't miss out. Add your email to be notified as soon as we have them back in stock:
This does NOT subscribe your email to any mailing lists, our system will only send an inventory notification message.
Production notes: in production most years but is unavailable in some due to limited seed/division material or finicky propagation
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Red Panda Nursery