Why Plant Stellar Pink® Rutgers Dogwood?
Stellar Pink® Dogwood is a charming multi-season tree that will dress up your entryway garden, patio area, or any of the beds around your home that could use a little sparkle. This dependable hybrid Dogwood tree will delight you with an abundance of starry pink flowers in late spring. In summer, the disease-resistant foliage stays clean and healthy-looking, and in fall, the leaves turn garnet red, glowing in the October sunshine. Narrow in youth, this medium-sized tree fills out with age (don’t we all?). Be patient, as Stellar Pink® Dogwood does take a few years to start blooming heavily and to develop its rich pink color. It’s worth the wait!
Forty years ago America’s beloved Flowering Dogwood tree—considered by many to be America’s favorite flowering tree—was threatened by a one-two punch of a pest called Dogwood borer and a disease called Dogwood anthracnose. In the 1970s, legendary plant breeder Dr. Elwin Orton of Rutgers University devised a plan to improve the disease resistance of Flowering Dogwood by hybridizing it with the naturally disease-resistant Asian Kousa Dogwood. Dr. Orton’s brilliant program has yielded a bumper crop of fantastic new hybrid Dogwood trees for the garden, including Stellar Pink® Dogwood. It may sound a little funny to think of a tree as an “invention,” but Dr. Orton was inducted into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame in 2012 for his visionary work.
How to use Stellar Pink® Rutgers Dogwood in the landscape?
It is perfectly normal for your Stellar Pink® Dogwood to produce pale pink or even white flowers when it’s young. This is especially likely to occur in cool, wet springs. However, after no more than five years in the ground, your Stellar Pink® Dogwood’s blossoms will consistently display a much deeper color. Plant your Stellar Pink® as a specimen tree or by your patio, where you'll be able to enjoy this multi-season stunner!
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zones: 5-9
How To Plant Stellar Pink® Rutgers Dogwood
Because the Stellar Pink® Dogwood tree has such an excellent genetic makeup, several common Dogwood problems are essentially eliminated. The risk of this hybrid tree contracting the anthracnose or borer issues that purebred Flowering Dogwoods sometimes succumb to is virtually nil. All that is left for you to do is to make sure this tree is satisfied in its cultural requirements. Regular irrigation and freely draining soil are the biggies—Rutgers Dogwoods don’t like to dry out, but they can’t sit for too long with “wet feet.” Full sun or light shade is best.
How To Water
Water regularly after initial planting. Once established, they are more tolerant of drought conditions, reducing your hand-watering responsibilities.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant Food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant Food granular form on an annual basis each fall. Continue this for the first three years to get your plant well established.
How To Prune
When it comes to pruning your Stellar Pink® Dogwood, there really isn't much you need to do! If it is needed for shaping, then be sure to do so shortly after flowering - Dogwoods set their flower buds in fall for the coming spring!
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our big trees, sizes XL and bigger, require expert delivery and care, that means our extra-large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care. We deliver your trees and plants directly to you. Ask Bower & Branch about planting services – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*For Big trees and Shrubs, Size XL and bigger: Review our Seasonal Shipping Timelines and Policy here.
Your trees and plants are grown across the United States at various Bower & Branch Growers. Depending on your location, your plant orders may be shipped from various locations. Please expect orders with multiple items to be delivered over a number of days as a result. Orders made up of numerous items or selections will not arrive at your home on the same day.
Shipping Delays:
From time to time, Bower & Branch Growers may determine to delay order shipment based on various factors for plant health. Weather in your region, as well as, where your plants are grown, is always considered when shipping. Extreme weather conditions may delay some or all of your order. Bower & Branch allows our Growers to make final shipping decisions based solely to benefit your trees and plants’ health and success.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
