English Dogwood is a photograph by D Hackett which was uploaded on April 17th, 2014.
Title
English Dogwood
Artist
D Hackett
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
English Dogwood by D Hackett
Digital image taken in rural Florida
English Dogwood, or Mock Orange
The big, fragrant, long-lasting blooms of the English dogwood, or Mock Orange, make it one of the most beautiful plants of mid- to late spring.
If by some chance you are not familiar with this shrub, it is known botanically as Philadelphus, after an ancient Egyptian king. The bouncing taxonomic placement of this shrub has been entertaining to watch. For a long time, it has been listed as a member of the Saxifragaceae family with relatives like astilibe, begenia and heuchera, and many still place it in this group. The taxonomic hierarchy now has it placed it in the hydrangea family, and this listing has been accepted by official government agencies.
From Southern Europe, it is not a dogwood, nor is it related to the orange. The blooms, however, are produced by the hundreds along arching stems forming a fountain-like appearance as showy as the dogwood. They are four-petaled and about 2 inches across. You can find them in single, semi-double and double forms. And as the name suggests, many have an enticing orange-blossom fragrance.
The English dogwood is cold hardy and can be planted over a large area, throughout zones 4 to 9. This long-lived shrub is suitable as a specimen-type plantings in a shrub border accent or as a screen or hedge. It almost never loses its blooms during late spring freezes. Another interesting feature of the plant is its exfoliating bark that reveals an orange color underneath
Uploaded
April 17th, 2014
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