Cherokee Princess White Flowering Dogwood
| Qty | 1 | 5 | 10+ |
| Price per Plant | $27.50 | $8.00 | $7.00 |
Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Princess’
The Cherokee Princess Dogwood is a cultivar of White Dogwood notable for its consistent, heavy white blooms and good rust-red fall color. The cultivar blooms at a younger age (2-3 years) than most dogwoods (5-7 years). Originally introduced in 1959 as Cornus florida ‘Sno-White’, the cultivar was selected by W.C. Higdon and introduced by Hawkersmith & Sons Nursery out of Tullahoma, TN. With blooms in early spring (April), the showy flowers are actually a special type of leaf called a bract. The true dogwood flowers are actually tiny, yellowish green and insignificant, themselves surrounded by the bracts. Like all White Dogwoods, the Cherokee Princess cultivar turns attractive shades of red and purple in fall and has bright red fruits that are bitter and inedible to humans. Fruits mature in late summer to early fall and can attract birds. The common name of dogwood is likely a reference to an old-time use of hard slender stems from the tree that were used for making skewers once known as dags or dogs. While all American dogwoods have many pests and disease problems when stressed, they are widely planted across the United States. The Cherokee Princess is well worth the effort for its Spring and Fall beauty. Planting instruction can be found at boydnursery.net/planting/.
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Diseases & Insects | Dogwood anthracnose is the most serious; trees are also susceptible to powdery mildew, leaf spot, canker, root rot and leaf and twig blight; stressed trees also become vulnerable to borers, leaf miners, and scale |
| Family | Cornaceae |
| Flowers | True flowers are greenish yellow and unimportant, each 1/4 inch across, in a crowded 1/2 inch wide head, showy parts of inflorescences are the 4 white bracts which are obovate or emarginate, about 2 inches long, the entire involucre (bracts) 3 to 4 inches across, occur in April to May, effective for 10 to 14 days depending on the weather; true flowers are borne in short stalked comes (umbels?) and are subtended by the handsome bracts; normally in full regalia in mid April |
| Growth Rate | |
| Hardiness Range | zone 5a – 9b *Zone 5 can be misleading. Seedling material from southern sources is not adequately hardy under Zone 5 conditions. Trees sold in Zone 5 should be grown specimens maintained for many years in the area. If possible, always ask the nurserymen where the trees are grown and this, in turn, this will save considerable disappointment when trees show limited flowering after 3-5 years. Boyd Nursery Company dogwoods will not be suitable in Zone 5. Need help finding your hardiness zone? |
| Leaves | Leaves are opposite, simple, oval or ovate, 3 to 6 inches long, 1 and 1/2 to 3 inches wide, abruptly acuminate, broad cuneate to rounded at base, nearly glabrous and dark green above, glaucous beneath and usually only pubescent on the veins, with 6 to 7 vein pairs; leaves are a handsome bronze-green when unfolding and have a consistent red to reddish purple fall color; one of the most consistent trees for excellent fall color |
| Plant Type | |
| Primary Features | |
| Size | 20-40 feet tall at maturity with an equal or greater spread |
| Sun Requirement |
What am I buying?
We sell Cherokee Princess Dogwoods as rooted cuttings. Taken from Wikipedia, “a plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking.” Put more simply, a rooted cutting is a small clone of the specimen from which it was taken. As a genetically identical clone, the cutting shares all the characteristic traits and attributes of the cultivated variety. Our rooted cuttings are 3-6 months old and 4-8 inches in stem length above the soil line. They are clipped from our private stock plants and grown in root pruning trays at our temperature controlled greenhouse.
When are plants collected?
Once your order is placed, your plants will be collected as soon as the weather permits. This time-frame is normally within 3-7 days. During heavy order periods (April-May), this collection time can grow to 10-14 days.
How are plants shipped?
All shipments are mailed via USPS Priority Mail using PirateShip.com. We monitor national weather conditions and temperatures for shipments. If at any time your order must be delayed for weather concerns, we will contact you by phone and/or email. The day that your order is completed or partially shipped, you will receive an email containing your package tracking number. You can also find this updated information by logging into your account on our website.
