Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. A cultivar is a named variety of a particular plant that was selected or breed and vegetatively propagated to have special characteristics, so all the plants with that name are exactly the same. It used to be that people often planted seedling dogwoods in their yards. But today there are many diseases of dogwoods – two types of anthracnose, powdery mildew and other leaf spot infections – some more serious than others but all affect the beauty of this native tree that blooms along with our azaleas to make showplaces of southern gardens. Fortunately, there are cultivars available with resistance to some of these diseases, an example is Appalachian Snow, and you should choose one of those when adding dogwoods to your landscape. If you search Clemson HGIC dogwood and dogwood diseases you’ll find information on selecting, planting, and caring for these native trees.
Dogwood Cultivars
