My dogwood flowers beautifully at the bottom, but not at the top. This is now the second year it does that. He looks completely healthy. Does anyone know why that may happen and if I can do something?
Hmm... does it attempt flowering at the top but those abort? Or no flowers are formed at all? Age might also be a factor, if this is a young tree: Treatment for Dogwood Trees That Are Not Blooming
No it doesn’t form buds at all. Even the leaves have a slightly different shape. I have it about four years now. Today I was so confused about that, that I checked out that it is really the same plant. :) And it is. The lower flowering branches are from the same trunk as the taller non flowering part.
Thank you for the link! I read there that rapid grow might delay flowering. I moved the dogwood two years ago and since then it grows vigorously, it’s about four times the size compared to two years ago. I’m not fertilizing it, but it is very close to the lawn which I do fertilize. On the webpage that you send me they said that could be a reason for too extreme growth and as a result not flowering. however it is still a bit weird, that the bottom quarter is flowering beautifully and forms slightly different leaves. I make pictures of the leaves tomorrow, it’s too dark here already. Thank you for your help!
I am interested to see photos of the trunk and leaves of the flowering part, and the trunk and leaves of the non-flowering part. I don't know a lot about dogwoods (ok, I know nothing about dogwoods), but if cultivars are grafted, the flowering bits might be from rootstock that is a different species. This is a very common issue here with ornamental cherries. See if the trunk has an area where there is a join line, or has different characteristics above some point.
Thank you for the reply! I‘ll take pictures tomorrow morning, it’s too dark now. Maybe to clarify, I didn’t try grafting this shrub. I bought it 4 years ago in a nursery. It was sitting in a shade spot for two years, where he did barely grow. Then we moved and I brought him with me. Now he is in partial shade and more clay soil and grows in height like crazy. Now he is about 3 m tall and 2 m wide. When we moved in April 2017 he did fit in the passenger seat of my car. I‘ll upload pictures tomorrow and thanks again for helping! Please excuse my english, it’s not my first language.
No, a lot of plants are sold grafted, fancy cultivar on top, who knows what related species providing the root stock, which is not supposed to grow on its own, but sometimes the plant underneath, which is just supposed to provide the roots, sends up its own shoots, even to the extent of taking over the plant, so that the fancy cultivar disappears.
Hello! Here are the pictures finally. This two are the stem and leafes of the bigger non flowering part.
Hmm. I'm not seeing dogwood here at all. The non-flowering part is definitely not dogwood, which would have opposite leaves, but I don't know what it is. The flowering part looks like mock orange, Philadelphus. Is it fragrant? It is not the same kind of tree as in the first photos.
Hm.. It is really the same tree as in the first picture. I upload one from a little distance to get a better overview
Maybe they are a little fragrant if you stick your nose in. Looking up pictures it looks really a lot like a mock orange. But I'm 99% sure the tag said dogwood, because I had to look it up to translate it into German.
This information on why your dogwood tree is not blooming may be helpful: Treatment for Dogwood Trees That Are Not Blooming I agree that the blooming area below the tree is a different plant altogether. If you bought it that way, then you got two plants for the price of 1. In a growing environment seeds from other plants can contaminate the soil of a near by container grown tree/shrub/perennial. Sometimes it's by animal, sometimes by wind, gravity, and rarely it's intentional. Some growers will do a row of trees with a row of shrubs in-between to shade the tree roots or to use the tree canopy to help provide filtered sun to the shrub. This can cause seeds from both to contaminate the soil and you end up with two different plants in one container. Not saying this happened in your case, I'm just saying it does happen.
The tree on top seems to be a willow (Salix). The blooming shrub down there is most probably a mock orange (Philadelphus).
Thank you for the reply! I agree that it's probably a mock orange at the bottom. And the leafs on the top really look a bit like a willow, but it's growth or shape looks different to me. But I don't know anything about various willow species.
Thank you for the reply and the link! I'll check it out. Right now I am not sure anymore if there is any part dogwood in that plant. :)
If you break a branch of the tree or smash some leaves, and they smell like a willow, then it's a willow :)
Ok I will try that. My neighbors have a willow, so I can go there compare the smells :) And I'm in Ottawa, Canada.
