Silky Dogwood Tree Seeds (Cornus Amomum)

The native shrub that holds the banks. Blue berries, white flowers, red stems.

Cornus amomum, the Silky Dogwood, is one of the most ecologically valuable and visually underrated native shrubs in eastern North America, a wetland-adapted dogwood that produces flat-topped clusters of creamy white flowers in late spring, clusters of distinctive blue and white berries in late summer, and brilliant red stems through winter that glow against snow in a display that rivals any ornamental shrub in the landscape. It grows naturally along stream banks, pond margins, wet ditches, and floodplain edges where its dense, spreading root system binds soil against erosion and its berries feed migratory birds making fall journeys across the continent. If you are looking to buy Silky Dogwood seeds or grow this native wetland shrub from seed, this is the most productive riparian native plant available for wet, difficult sites in the eastern United States.

• Flat-topped white flower clusters in late spring attracting native bees and pollinators
• Distinctive blue and white berries in late summer eaten intensively by migratory songbirds
• Brilliant red stems through winter providing color and structure in the bare landscape
• Dense, spreading root system providing exceptional bank stabilization and erosion control
• Adaptable to wet, poorly drained, and seasonally flooded sites where most shrubs fail

Things you probably did not know about the Silky Dogwood

The berries are among the highest-fat native fruits available to migrating birds. Silky Dogwood berries contain exceptionally high lipid content relative to most native berries, providing the concentrated caloric fuel that migratory birds require for long-distance flights. Studies of fall migratory bird diet along the Atlantic flyway consistently identify Silky Dogwood berries as a preferred fuel source for wood thrushes, veeries, gray catbirds, and other thrush family members that are among the most significant long-distance migrants of the eastern forest.

The red stem color intensifies with cold weather. Silky Dogwood stems develop their brightest red color after the first frosts of fall, and the display intensifies through winter as temperatures drop. This cold-triggered coloring is the same mechanism that produces fall leaf color in deciduous trees. The stems are at their most ornamentally striking in January and February when the contrast with snow or bare ground is greatest and nothing else in the landscape provides similar color.

It creates thickets that are nearly impenetrable for predators but accessible for small birds. The dense, branching stems of a mature Silky Dogwood thicket create a structure with openings large enough for songbirds to enter and nest while being too tight for most avian predators to maneuver through effectively. Ornithologists have documented significantly higher nesting success rates for ground and low-nesting birds in Silky Dogwood thickets compared to more open shrub plantings.

The berries ripen over several weeks rather than all at once. Unlike many shrubs that ripen all their fruit simultaneously in a brief window, Silky Dogwood berries ripen progressively over three to four weeks in late summer. This extended fruiting period sustains bird populations through a longer portion of the pre-migration feeding period and spreads the ecological benefit across more time and more individual birds than a simultaneous ripening would allow.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Cornus amomum
• Stratification: Required, warm stratification of 60 to 90 days followed by 90 days cold stratification
• USDA Zones: 4 to 8
• Soil: Prefers moist, wet, or periodically flooded soils, adapts to ordinary moist garden conditions
• Light: Full sun to partial shade
• Height: 6 to 10 feet
• Spread: 6 to 10 feet, spreading by suckers over time
• Growth Rate: Moderate to fast, 1 to 2 feet per year

Plant it at a water's edge, along a wet ditch, or anywhere with consistent moisture. The birds will find it before you have finished planting the next one.