The best remedy to a cold dark winter is the promise of late winter/early spring’s first blooms. No other flowering shrub quite does that with such panache as the genus Camellia. With its double, single, semi-double, peony flowered, anemone flowered, rose form double or formal double flowers, who cares that there may still be snow on the ground when they bloom!

The species Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood, is one of the most recognizable and beloved of all our native early flowering trees. The large showy bracts (commonly called showy flowers) are impressive in April as they brighten wooded edges and home landscapes. Keeping track of the many cultivars can be daunting as hundreds exist.