Cornus alba Spaethii - White Dogwood

Cornus alba 'Spaethii' is a variety of white dogwood with green variegated foliage, and with bright red branches. This medium-sized shrub with bushy and branched habit reaches about 2.50 m (6.6 ft) in all directions. In late spring, it is adorned with small yellow-tinged flowers, followed by white berries with a bluish hue at the end of the season. During the pale light of winter, its dazzling red framework of branches is revealed. It is a vigorous, hardy and versatile bush, and maintains a well-branched base as it matures. Ideal for creating an elegant screen, in ordinary soil and full sun.

Cornus alba 'Spaethii' belongs to the dogwood family. It is native to Siberia, on the banks of the Amur River, Russia, in deciduous and coniferous forests, and Manchuria. It is always found near watercourses, under harsh and contrasting climates that are proof of its robustness. The 'Spaethii' variety shows a bushy, lush habit, 2 to 3 m (9.8 ft) in all directions. It is a multi-branched bush, with a thicket-like appearance, with fairly rapid growth. Its branches are red and shiny, both when young and mature, and it has the advantage of not thinning out from the base. The deciduous foliage emerges purple in spring, before variegating with green and golden yellow, and finally turning red before leaf fall. The leaves are entire, ovate, clearly veined and undulate, measuring about 5 to 10 cm (1.9 to 3.9 in) in length. Its flowering is not its main asset, but it does produce small, melliferous, white-yellowish flowers arranged in cymes. It is followed by creamy white berries containing oily seeds, which turn bluish when ripe. The lower branches form shoots or root in the ground, without the bush being invasive. 

Whatever the size and style of the garden, there will always be a dogwood to provide a beautiful decoration. The white dogwood 'Spaethii' offers a renewed spectacle throughout the year, whether integrated into a flowerbed, a mixed hedge, or even on the edge of a woodland to create a transition with the countryside. Its association with Helianthus, Heliopsis, or daylilies will create a very colourful scene. As it is a shrub that thrives by the water's edge, it can be planted together with the yellow-barked Cornus stolonifera 'Faviramea' near to a pond, behind a foreground of astilbes.