This is off ebay, 25 seeds for about $4. Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) 25+ Seeds Zones 2 - 7. Native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to Durango. This medium to tall deciduous shrub spreads readity by underground stolens to form dense thickets. Dark red stems make a striking contrast against winter's snow. The Latin species name, meaning 'bearing stolons", refers to the rooting of branch tips touching the ground and forming new shoots. Since the wood is quite durable, Native Americans used the Red Osier Dogwood as digging sticks, pipe stems, arrows and pegs. Propagation: Seed propagation requires stratification at 41 degrees F. for 100 to 130 days, so are best to plant directly in the ground in the autumn, However, if not planting until spring, the seeds can be stored in the freezer for a couple of months then start in a greenhouse in small individual peat pots. Plant the seedlings when they have reached four to five inches in height. The plants also root readily from softwood cuttings collected immediately after flowering. Stick cuttings in sand, peat or pearlite for 8 to 10 weeks. Keep moist with mist if possible or high humidity at a minimum. Seed propagation however can work to Red Osier Dogwood�s advantage in keeping populations genetically diverse and therefore less likely to succumb to catastrophic disease or parasite infestations.

I agree with nywoodsman that you should try to find a local variety. Although I bet the Indiana plant would grow in your yard, you'd be introducing Indiana genes into the local red osier dogwood gene pool. This might be an insignificant thing if done once, and it might not be very significant for red osier dogwood, but if native plant gardeners like us keep moving plants around the country we surely will eventually cause damage to the genetic makeup of native plants. There are plants like red osier dogwood that grow everywhere from eastern Canada to Texas and there must be genetic variation within the species. By moving plants around, we are messing up that natural genetic diversity. Hope you don't think I'm beating up on you - just trying to point out a potential problem that I think native plant gardeners should be aware of. to propagate red osier dogwood I'ld first try placing a few 1 foot long cuttings with no or only a few leaves on them directly into the ground where you want the plant to grow and keep them moist. Push about half the cutting into the ground and leave the rst sticking out. This could also be done in a pot. I think they will root easily. If not, as nywoodsman said, there should be lots of rooted "suckers" alongside any large plant you find in the wild. One of these could be removed with a few roots and should transplant successfully.

For what it's worth -- I have a massive amount of red twig dogwood growing on my property. The tallest is a good eight feet. A lot of it is concentrated along a natural drainage ditch that leads to a pond on my property and from that fact I conclude that it must not mind being wet and seems in fact to prefer the wet ground. But I also have some growing closer to the house on a well-drained slope. I therefore conclude that it isn't all that fussy about moisture. The very uppermost branches of my tallest red twig dogwood shrubs are just as richly blood red as the rest of the shrub. I could just be fortunate in the strain I have growing here though. This shrub is also well loved by birds; they strip the berries as soon as they ripen. A warning -- it does get very shaggy and will need a good hard pruning every year but in my opinion this is only for the purpose of having it appear to be well maintained and not for any other particular reason that I have found. Oh -- and it is extremely easy to propogate. In early spring (April) when the soil is mushy I just chop off a foot or two and put it in the ground where I want it to grow next. No rooting hormone is required for it to succeed wherever I put it.

So Jean, or anybody else, does this look like a slime mold to you? I did a Google image search and did indeed find pictures of slime mold that looks like small things on stalks, but none quite like this. I'm leaving the plants alone for now as I don't see any damage on the twigs.