New Interesting Dogwood Variety - Yellow Dogwood

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Breeders have developed new interesting varieties of dogwood, differing not only in taste, but also in fruit color

Dogwood is one of the most valuable wild fruit plants. It has delicious sweet and sour fruits with a large amount of biologically active substances. Cornel is a frost-resistant plant, it can withstand temperatures down to -35 ° C, but very early flowering prevents its spread to the north. The inflorescence of flower buds in the dogwood begins to form already in May, along with the formation and ripening of fruits, and after leaf fall, they are clearly visible on the branches of a bush or dogwood tree.

It should be noted that dogwood is not a self-fertile plant, it is not pollinated with its pollen, therefore, it is necessary to have at least two plants in the garden. The inflorescence contains 15 to 25 flowers. In early spring, at an ambient temperature of 6 … 11 ° C, the dogwood plant turns bright yellow from the flower buds blooming in the inflorescence.

At this air temperature, pollen-carrying bees practically do not fly, they need temperatures above 12 ° C, bumblebees fly, but there are very few of them, you have to rely on the wind, so the plants must be planted close to each other. The flowering of dogwood continues for 10-14 days, while in the inflorescence from 1 to 6 flowers simultaneously bloom, and during this time several flowers are pollinated in it at once. And if at least 3-4 flowers are pollinated in the inflorescence, the harvest will be excellent.

It should be noted that when the temperature drops, the inflorescences close, and the flowers can withstand frosts down to -3 ° C. Dogwood fruits have a red color from which they got their name (kizil - red (from Turkish - ed.). Dogwood propagates vegetatively and by seeds. Seeds are subject to stratification, and under natural conditions they germinate in 21-23 months. But if after removal from fruit seeds immediately put in moss or sawdust and keep them moist and cool until spring, and in March - April, systematically spill them with cold water, then they will germinate in 9-11 months. Stratified seeds must be sown to a depth of no more than 2-3 cm, because, unlike all stone fruit plants, the dogwood seed does not split into two cotyledons, and the seed has a small triangle opening on one side,through which the root, kidney, and then the cotyledons come out first.

With vegetative propagation, green cuttings root best of all, while it is not recommended to cut off half of the leaf blades, however, it is necessary to create greenhouse conditions for the cuttings. Lignified cuttings cut in the fall are very weakly rooted and normal seedlings can only be obtained during two summer seasons. The easiest way to propagate the dogwood is by layering. For example, I bend a branch, pin it to the ground, cover it with soil, and then keep the ditch wet. As a result, this branch will take root over the summer and will soon bear fruit. You can also vaccinate two-year-old seedlings.

Budding is the best way of grafting, with the help of it you can create a cultivated plant with fruits of various colors - red or almost black, pink and yellow. Dogwood is not picky about the soil, but to obtain stable and rich yields, it must be planted on fertile soils with a neutral reaction. He does not tolerate acidic soils, he likes it when lime or ash is added to the soil.

In the Kiev Botanical Garden, under the leadership of Doctor of Biological Sciences S. V. Klimenko, a number of cultivated varieties of dogwood have been created that can satisfy the most demanding tastes of amateur gardeners. For example, this is how two varieties appeared, the fruits of which have a color different from the usual red color - these are the Amber and Coral varieties.

Elite seedlings of these varieties were selected in 1982 from seedlings obtained from hybrid free pollination seeds planted in 1976.

The Yantarny variety has amber-yellow fruits, almost transparent: when ripe, even a bone is visible in them. These fruits are small, with an average weight of 3.5 grams, barrel-shaped, oval-cylindrical, sweet and sour, and when fully ripe, sweet. The pulp of the fruit is light yellow, with a thin and strong skin. In terms of ripening, the variety belongs to the medium-late - ripens in September. When ripe, the fruits crumble, therefore it is recommended to remove them 3-4 days before full ripening, and they ripen during storage. The average stone weight is 0.4 g, which is 10.5–12% of the fruit weight. The biochemical composition of the fruits of this variety does not differ significantly from the red-fruited varieties, but the amount of sugars and pectins in it is the greatest.

Coral variety - medium late ripening, has wide-rounded pink fruits with an average weight of 3.4-4 grams. Its pulp is light red, tender, of medium density, the taste of this dogwood resembles a cherry, the skin is thin, strong. Fruit ripening is not simultaneous; when ripe, the fruits crumble. The plant is winter-hardy and high-yielding.