Dogwoods Bloom, and Music Echoes

Ketzel Levine, NPR

The five-petaled flower of a Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii.

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Ketzel Levine, NPR

Pink Cornus florida cultivars drinking up the sun at a Portland, Ore., nursery.

A predictable, yet wondrous, event has begun around the country: the American dogwood is in bloom. This ancient creature, which is native to both coasts, has changed little since the time of the dinosaurs.

The brief flowering of the dogwoods can elicit thoughts of music: the blossoms build slowly to a crescendo, and then fade into the background for another year. To many, their more muted display only increases their sentimental appeal.

NPR's Ketzel Levine consulted several experts — on music, and flowers — to learn what kind of music they hear when they view dogwoods in bloom.

From Dogwoods: The Genus Cornus by Paul Cappiello and Don Shadow:

Growing Dogwoods in the Garden

Cultural management is the bane of the flowering dogwood's existence. The tree does best in moist, acidic soil in a site with a touch of afternoon shade. It will perform admirably in full sun with adequate moisture, but who can be trusted to provide adequate water? Can you just hear it now, "I promise, honey, I'll water it twice a week . . . !"

Certainly the most significant suburban malady of the flowering dogwood is mower blight. The constant insult to the trunk from overzealous weekend lawn warriors seems to almost insure the extinction of the species. One nick here. Another there, Soon the borers march in, the borers march out. 'Nough said!

Cornus florida has tremendously dense and hard wood with a very tight grain. Fortunately for the wood splitter, the tree rarely reaches adequate size to require the procedure. The wood has been used for mallets, wooden rake teeth, jeweler's boxes, butcher's blockers, and anything else requiring extremely durable and dense wood.

Unfortunately, the density of the wood does not impart a resistance to decay. Flowering dogwoods abhor large pruning cuts. Bark damage of any kind heals very slowly, allowing ample time and opportunity to all matter of nasties.