Yellow Twig Dogwood is a deciduous shrub that brings unexpected winter drama to the landscape with its brilliant golden stems. A cultivar of Cornus sericea known as 'Silver and Gold', this native North American plant grows 5, 7 feet tall and wide, thriving in zones 3 through 8. It produces showy white flowers in late spring followed by ornamental berries, but the real treasure emerges in fall and winter when the stems shift to luminous yellow, glowing against snow and grey skies. This shrub handles wet soils and clay with ease, making it valuable for rain gardens and erosion control where other plants struggle.
Partial Sun
Moderate
3-8
84in H x 96in W
—
High
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The brilliant yellow winter stems are most intense on new growth, so many gardeners prune away 20 to 25 percent of the oldest stems each early spring to fuel a continuous flush of vibrant new canes. Native across much of North America where it colonizes wetland margins and swampy areas, this shrub also attracts birds and butterflies to its flowers and fruit while remaining completely deer resistant. It thrives in consistently moist, organically rich soil in full sun to part shade, tolerating everything from boggy conditions to clay without complaint.
Yellow Twig Dogwood serves several landscape roles in the modern garden. Plant it in hedgerows where its suckering habit creates dense screening, or use it to naturalize along wet margins and drainage areas. It excels in rain gardens and bioswales where its tolerance for consistently moist and even swampy soil makes it far more reliable than typical ornamental shrubs. The architectural winter stem color also works as a specimen shrub or in mixed borders where it provides months of visual interest when evergreens and other deciduous plants have faded.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Remove 20 to 25 percent of the oldest stems in early spring each year to stimulate growth of new canes, which display the most vibrant yellow coloring. Trim roots with a spade and promptly remove root suckers if you wish to prevent the shrub's natural colonial spread. Pruning is not required for the shrub to survive, but selective removal of older wood dramatically enhances the winter stem color display.
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