Baileyi Yellow Twig Dogwood

Baileyi Yellow Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea') earns its place in winter, when the leaves drop and a thicket of bright yellow green stems stands lit against bare ground. It grows to about 2.5m tall and wide, fills out quickly, and it is one of the few good shrubs that genuinely enjoys a wet, badly drained corner.

Why you'll love it

• Winter stem colour. Once the canopy drops, the young wood glows yellow through the coldest months, when most gardens have nothing to look at.
• It thrives where drainage fails. Wet feet tolerant, so dam edges, swales and clay hollows suit it rather than kill it.
• Three seasons of interest. Small white to cream flower clusters, then autumn foliage colour, then the bare stems.
• Cold hardy and quick. Frost hardy, wind tolerant and fast to thicken, so exposed tableland and cold southern gardens are its natural home.

Where it works best

Mass planting and thickets. Plant 1.5m apart. At that spacing the stems knit into a single block of winter colour, which reads far better than a lone shrub.

Wet ground and dam edges. Boggy corners, drainage swales and creek banks are where it outperforms almost anything else you could put there.

Banks and retaining walls. The fibrous root system holds loose soil on a slope, so run it across a batter at the same 1.5m spacing.

Growing Baileyi Yellow Twig Dogwood in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to part shade, and the more sun the young stems get the stronger the winter colour. This is a cool temperate and warm temperate shrub, so cold southern gardens and elevated inland districts suit it. Subtropical and tropical winters are too mild to colour the wood.

Soil. Almost anything, including heavy clay and ground that stays damp. It prefers a moisture retentive soil enriched with compost, and it is one of the few shrubs you can plant level rather than mounded.

Water and feed. Keep the root zone damp through the first two summers, because it is not a drought plant and sheds leaves early if it dries out. A general purpose fertiliser in early spring is enough, with 75mm of mulch.

Pruning. The colour sits in one year old wood, so cut about a third of the oldest stems to ground level each late winter. A neglected plant can be taken back to 200mm and will reshoot strongly.

What to expect when it arrives

We supply this dogwood in a 300mm pot: a multi stemmed young shrub around knee to waist height. If it reaches you in the cooler months it will be bare of leaves, which is normal for a deciduous plant and not a fault. It moves away quickly once the soil warms, reaching close to full size within three or four seasons.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the deciduous shrub range
• Plants with strong autumn colour
• What to plant in a waterlogged garden
• More choices for cool climate gardens

Common questions

Why are my stems dull rather than bright yellow?

The colour sits in the youngest wood, and older stems fade to grey brown. Cut a third of the oldest canes to the ground each late winter and the replacement growth comes back bright.

Will it work in a subtropical garden?

Not well. It needs a genuinely cold winter to go dormant and colour up, so warm districts give you a green shrub without the payoff.

Does it really cope with wet ground?

Yes, and that is one of its real strengths. It will grow along a dam edge or in a low corner that holds water, though it still wants open sun overhead.

How far apart should I plant it?

1.5m apart. It is deciduous, so treat it as a seasonal screen: dense from spring to autumn, then open coloured stems in winter.