Cornus sanguinea ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ AGM

Dogwood ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’

Getting on for a year ago, I was striding through the rain towards middle growbag Laura’s front door and not for the first time I stopped to admire ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’. Then as luck would have it, Laura rang me a couple of days later to say that she had spotted a couple of suckers she could lift for me and did I want them?

We’ve tried a few dogwoods over the years and this, without doubt, is one of the best. Even on an unremittingly grey and drizzly day – and we’ve had a few of those lately- it appears bright like a beacon in the garden. Hardy and vigorous, its habit is not so much upright as fan shaped; and had I been asked to name it I’d have said Anny’s Winter Red because it is far more red than orange – all the way along the stems. Descriptions and photographs online are variable so if you decide to get one, then buy it mid-winter so you can see exactly what you’re getting.

So, last spring I nurtured my two precious young plants and decided to grow them on in pots for a season before I planted them out. How fortunate was that? After one of the hottest, driest summers on record I doubt they would have survived out in the garden; so now that they are well established, they are top of my to-do list for 2023!

NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 and is for sale in our online shop here.

More NB If you’re not already a subscriber and you’d like a bit more gardening chitchat from the3growbags, please type your email address here and we’ll send you a new post every Saturday morning.

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