Maryland Native Plants for Winter Interest

Yellow-Twig Dogwood ‘Bud’s Yellow’

Yellow-twig dogwood ‘Bud’s Yellow’ is a lovely addition to a garden for winter interest.  A suckering shrub with an upright-spreading habit, with yellow stems.  The best color appears in the younger stems.  In the spring, yellow-twig dogwood produces showy white flowers that attract butterflies.  It’s dark green leaves turn red to orange to purple in the fall making it great for all season interest.  It is a deer tolerant shrub and does well in wet soil.  Common uses are hedges and rain gardens.

LGS Notes:

Yellow-twig dogwood will be new to LGS in 2021, and we are excited to offer it in the nursery, and to start incorporating it into our designs! This shrub would be great as an informal hedge or border, especially if mixed with Cornus sericea ‘Baileyi’ or ‘Arctic Fire’ (red-twig dogwood) for multicolor winter interest. -Jessica

I’m always on the hunt to add new colors to my winter garden, so I can’t wait to try ‘Bud’s Yellow’!  In addition to other winter standards like Ilex verticillata, I think it will look beautiful next to the soft forms of fading grasses like Panicum virgatum and the architectural seedheads of Monarda species or Echinacea purpurea. –Amy