Red-barked dogwood
A common park shrub grown for its red winter stems; its flat white flower clusters in May and June offer bees easily reached nectar and pollen.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 2-3 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Red-barked dogwood is a shrub native to Siberia, northern China and Korea; in Europe and Turkey it is often planted in parks and along roads for its stems, which turn bright red in winter. Its small, creamy-white flowers form flat, broad clusters; because the nectar is exposed, honey bees, wasps and flies can use it easily.
Flowering
The main flowering is in May and June; some plants show a sparse second flowering in late summer. It flowers more profusely on moist, cool soils.
Honey and pollen
It is not grown densely enough to produce a nectar flow on its own; it provides extra food for colonies around towns and parks between late spring and early summer.
Note for the beekeeper
It should not be confused with the cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), which flowers yellow in early spring; the "white" in its Turkish and Latin names refers to the colour of its fruit. It is suitable for bee-friendly shrub planting along water and in damp park areas.