Master Gardener

When I moved into my house, I wanted a dogwood tree in the yard. Nothing looks nicer in the springtime than to drive along some country road and see dogwoods in full bloom back in the woods. I wanted some of that action. So that first spring I went to the nursery, bought one, planted it exactly the way I was told, and hoped for the best.

It died before the next spring.

Undeterred I went back to the nursery and got another dogwood. Again I planted it exactly the way I was told and, so far, it's doing OK. For me, this is a monumental success.

My thumb is black not green. Even though I have books telling me what to do, water and feed, bow down, hug, and kiss my plants, they're usually spindly and sad. Two years ago the cicadas nearly did in my dogwood but I persevered and now the tree is looking good. Lush green leaves. Sounds good right?

Except for one thing. My dogwood doesn't bloom.

At least not much. Each spring I get one or two blooms. Last year - the year after the cicadas - I got 6 or 8 blooms. I thought I had turned a corner and anticipated more and more dogwood flowers each year.

But no such luck. This year I have one bloom. One. One dogwood flower. And it's down low so it's hard to see. That's it on the left. My 2006 dogwood flower.

Enjoy.
K-