The Coastal Gardener
Article

Dogwoods that Thrive in Coastal Northern California

  • April 4, 2026
  • By June Walsh

The Dogwoods (Cornus) at Humboldt Botanical Garden are fantastic, but only a few Cornus do well in coastal Humboldt County. 

Cornus kousa
Juniper Blue Stal with Cornus Radiant Rose Cornus kousa “Radiant Rose” has deep pink bracts with white centers and reddish coloring on the leaves. This dogwood has a blue-tinged creeping juniper growing beneath it. Both plants are adjacent to a gravel path.
Juniper Blue Stal with Cornus Radiant Rose Cornus kousa “Radiant Rose”

We have grown these trees successfully in the Moss Family Temperate Woodland Garden since planting in 2008/2009. They can grow to nearly 40 feet, though the ones in the Temperate Woodland Garden are closer to 15 feet in 18 years. They have inconspicuous flowers surrounded by large showy bracts; they provide good fall color and set fruit! They need full sun and plenty of drainage. They can get by with little summer water but will do best if given infrequent deep watering. They rarely need to be pruned. There are different named varieties with white, pink or magenta flowers and even one with variegated foliage C. k. ’Wolf Eyes’; all do well.

Cornus sericea 

We have one of the short Red-twig dogwoods, growing only 2–3 feet tall. It is a deciduous North American native planted in the Lost Coast Brewery Native Plant Garden. It is in two locations as “mass plantings” of many individuals. In spring it has an umbel of small inconspicuous flowers. In summer it has nice matte green leaves. But it comes into glory in winter, with bright red, twiggy branches. If it is coppiced (cut to the ground) every few years, the red twigs will be renewed.

The flowers are composed of four-petal-like bracts arranged around a head of very small flowers tightly clustered at the center of the bracts. The leaves of this plant, as common with most dogwoods, are simple with veins curving as they approach the leaf margin, These leaves are dark green and shaped like a miniature tapering trowel. On this plant, the bracts are white.
Cornus capitata Mountain Moon in full bloom.
Cornus capitata

This evergreen species is very well adapted here and may reach 40 feet. It can handle wind without disfigurement! They need no summer water once established. Some people find the fruit annoying when it falls, but the fruit looks great on the tree, and wildlife take advantage. These trees, though evergreen, drop leaves all year. The leaf fall can be raked into the bed the tree is planted in for a natural mulch or picked up in your mower to be added to a compost heap. Cornus capitata ‘Mountain Moon’ is a selection that has larger flowers, leaves, and fruit and covers itself in bloom in spring. It is growing along the fence on HBG’s western border.

Cornus ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’

This variety is deciduous and can grow to 40 feet. It is a cross of two North American natives, Cornus florida from eastern North America and Cornus nuttallii from western North America. In summer the leaves tend to look tired. We have several throughout HBG. They bloom well with enough sun, and can be drought tolerant.

Cornus capitata fruit The pale salmon to bright orange-red fruits are borne in pendulous clusters on this dogwood. The fruits appear like small, warty red ping-pong balls hanging from stiff stalks. The fruits are draped amidst the dark green leaves
Cornus capitata fruit

 

These Cornus do better elsewhere

The two Cornus that are not so great for coastal gardens are Cornus nuttallii (native to the west, needs heat and cold to look its best) and Cornus florida (native to Northeastern and Southeastern USA…these mostly survive to die)!

 

Author:  June Walsh, UC Master Gardener of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and Moss Family Temperate Woodland Garden Co-Curator, Humboldt Botanical Garden.

All images courtesy of June Walsh and used with permission.