I have always admired bloodtwig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) for its colorful contribution to the winter garden. During a recent visit to Tower Hill, I fell in love with a new cultivar of this wonderful plant – ‘Midwinter Fire’. This outstanding ornamental shrub features stems that are yellow at the base, igniting to shades of coral and culminating to fiery orange-red at the tips. Planted as a formal hedge with small boxwood at its feet in the new winter garden courtyard at Tower Hill, it was absolutely stunning.

This shrub is a plant for all seasons, with oval medium-green leaves, clusters of tiny white flowers in late spring, dark purple berries in summer, and golden autumn foliage. It grows to 5’ tall and 6’ wide, and looks great backed by dark green shrubs. For more information about growing and caring for bloodtwig dogwoods, please see our previous blog article.