It was likely the hard summer. I have none, but the Morton Arboretum outside Chicago has several in full blazing sun that were quite healthy the last time I was there.

tj

If the spotting is bacterial a fungicide won't help. Google dogwood leaf spot and see what you find out. Dogwoods often roll up in garden plantings during summer, not sure I've heard anyone come up with a good explanation. Liable to be something due to conditions where the roots are, maybe even just high soil temperatures. Otherwise maybe a water mold infestation. Or...

I planted a Cornus mas in full sun in my folk's yard 8 or 10 years ago. It is doing fine.

+oM

Thank you all for the responses, I truly appreciate it. I did google the dogwood leaf spot and of the 3 varieties of leaf spots they list, they advise to use a fungicide for all. I have city water so probably not a water mold infestation. I'm having no problem at all with the other plants I have in the yard, only this one.

Plants can come from retail outlets already infested with water molds, decline after being installed on the final planting site. All it takes is exposure to infested water, during suitable temperature conditions. Sales yards here often have puddles and splashing present, in hotter climates it may not be possible to get away with this sloppiness on some sites at all, due to resulting losses from water molds.

bboy, thanks for the response, I never heard of that. Thats a possibility - I bought it from a huge grower. I will look into that, symptoms and treatment.

bboy, I don't see any mold on the leaves - it is purple spotting - irregular looking spots. I am reading to treat mold issues with a broad spectrum residual contact fungicide. I am not finding much about it by googling, but what I have found says it would be grey or black spotting but I don't see that, just the purple spotting.

Water molds swim in the water in the soil, attack and damage roots.

bboy - can you advise about treatment? I'm not finding much of anything online about it. I'm thinking it would have to be something systemic to work on the root system. Thanks for the response.

There really are no treatments for water molds - once the root system is attacked or damaged by the pathogen, it's usually too late for recovery. And since these organisms can be present in just about any soil - as well as transported in with new plant material (and feet!), it is hard, if not impossible, to control their spread. Soil fumigation is really the only effective method and extremely impractical on a home gardener level. And certainly the water molds are exacerbated with heavy rainfall or prolonged rainy periods but also with excessive irrigation.

Leaf spot(s) are almost always fungal in nature and they too can be exacerbated by moisture. Too late in the season to do anything about them now - nearly all fungicides are prophylactic in nature. Preventative only, not curative.

Just clean up well in fall and destroy or thoroughly compost any fallen leaves. Mulching for winter often helps to smother any spores which may remain or overwinter on the soil surface.

Gardengal - thanks for the response! So it sounds like I will always have to treat this tree, if it survives. It doesn't sound like I should plant in the same area if I pull out the tree. Would this be a right understanding? Would it be advisable to dig down to the root ball and see whats happening? The tree has only been in the ground about 1 1/2 yrs. If its only going to fail I would rather pull it out now. Thank you for the information.

I guess it wasn't as clear as I could have made it, but from your description your tree does NOT have a water mold/root rot. Fungal leaf spots are common to dogwoods, some species much more so than others. It does not necessarily spell doom for the tree and given this season's unsual weather across much of the country, I would take that into account. Next year, with the potential for whatever passes as "normal" weather in your area, you may not see nearly as much of an issue.

To be on the safe side, you might try spraying with an appropriate fungicide in early spring and/or periodically until the foliage emerges. For now, just keep properly watered through the drought and heat (neither of which dogwoods appreciate in the least). And clean up all fallen leaves in the fall and destroy, so as not to harbor or spread any spores..

Im growing a cornus florida in full sun. In TN, what I do is spray fungicide in early spring as well. This year its been excrutiatingly hot+dry. I usually give it a good 5 minute spraying with my hose on moderate strength. Regualr watering is the thing you need to do :P

Wow. Can the seven plagues of Egypt and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse be far off?

I'd recommend listening to the WI comments (more direct experience attributable to Michigan conditions), and acknowledge the quality west coast contributions. Immediate leaping to obscure and worst case suppositions - that may or may not apply to your local condtions - helps no one. Thank you, gardengal48, for being a voice of calm reasoned analysis. Is that even legal to say?

I didn't note that anyone asked after your local conditions (slope, aspect, exposure, soils, hydrology, etc.) and you only mentioned full sun. No one asked - nor did you say - how big this plant was when planted, what condition (bare root, container, B&B) it came to you as, or how big it is now. These kinds of things matter a bit in sorting out what might be a pertinent issue, or what is not.

I have grown Cornus mas here in KY for several decades now, including six large 'Golden Glory' specimens that are about twenty years old. I also have seedling provenanced individuals, and a handful of the clone 'Redstone'. These are excellent landscape plants.

I've also managed large old specimens in estate and institutional landscapes, and observed/admired many many many plants in the eastern United States. I have never seen serious problems of any sort, whether under the highest quality maintenance regimes or basically planted and ignored.

Without benefit of any further information from you (though anything you can provide would always be helpful), I bet you have no major pathogens or problems other than summer drought stress on a young plant, with a little compounded difficulty from air pollution.

A relatively recent transplant tells me that you have a limited established root system with this plant. If it was a small plant, that goes double - less roots take up less water to combat rapid transpiration in long hot weather. If this was a larger plant with a truncated root system, the answer is the same with the added challenge of trying to replace lost roots to support/manage a larger crown of foliage. Despite your watering regime, this was a tough year for new plants to keep up with trying conditions.

As far as the leaf spotting, it certainly could be a fungus - fungal infections can cause leaf spots. I wouldn't let the judgment of one person make the case, however - especially if you plan to launch into a lifelong combat with the pathogen. I'd collect specimens and have them evaluated by trained professionals through your Cooperative Extension Service office, where these situations can be dealt with by plant pathologists at your state land grant university (which your tax dollars have already paid for the service).

I still think your leaf spotting is more likely caused by ground level air pollution (ozone and other emissions), which is well known and quite common in hot summer conditions often found in the eastern United States. Dogwoods can be prone to this problem. You don't need to do anything to resolve this.

Sorry to you (and all) for the long rant, but those who have grown Cornus mas would chuckle at the idea that you would need to do much more than get out of this plant's way and just let it grow. Please reconsider any use of fungicides, as this would be most likely a waste of your money/time, and an additional unnecessary pesticide in your environment. And - since Cornus mas fruit are edible and a wonderful treat in late summer - use of such pesticides would make you less likely to consume them, and possibly a problem for wildlife as well.

I am very interested in hearing more details of your plant, and if you were able to post images - well, that would be gravy.

To wrap: enjoy your Cornelian Cherry Dogwood (or simply Cherry Dogwood, for ease of memory) and its long life. I have enjoyed all of mine for many years, and really appreciate their early subtle spring bloom that announce that the cycle of like approaches anew.

Thanks gardengal, gardenapprentice. I really appreciate the information.
Viburnumvalley, I have pictures I sent to the county extension, but as I mentioned, I spoke to someone there, sent them photos and never heard back after leaving numerous follow up emails and messages. I bought the tree at a large nursery, which is the only place I called that had that particular tree. The tree was potted, it was a wet spring, and all the trees were bunched together under some shelter. There was some spotting at that time, but I thought once it got under drier conditions it would be fine. It is only about 4 ft. tall, and I planted it about 1 1/2 yrs ago. It budded out fine in the spring, but as the summer progressed it became more spotted. The spots are irregular and with purple margins. The leaves also curled somewhat and it looked heat stressed like it wasn't getting enough water. I have been watering it a couple times a week, with about 5 gallons each watering. We haven't hardly had any rain and the temps reached in the high 90's for many days out of the hottest months. I don't know how to post pictures online. Possibly I can find out how to do that and post. I am not sure what else to tell you, I am a newbie with trees. Is there any other information that would be helpful? Thanks for your response, I truly appreciate it. I really am hoping this tree pulls through, I looked at the descriptions of lots of trees before deciding on this one.

You had me curious. I actually went to each of the C. mas plantings in our park system. Acording to my records there are five. Four are in direct sun from sun up until sundown. The fifth is in about 3/8 shade. We have had record heat even up to 113 degrees for several days. I could detect no spotting or even damage due to heat. All seem to be doing well and all are over ten years in the ground, the oldest over 24 years and planted between the sidewalk and street. Two are good fruit bearers but I seem to be the only one that cares for the rather tart fruit. If there were cultivars, the name was not recorded.

gandle, I'm glad to hear that, at least I know it can take the heat and being in the full sun. I wanted it to bear fruit for the birds, although I've heard you can make a tart jam with it. I am thinking it had a fungus when I bought it which progressed the following year, and due to it being small and having a small root system, it is more susceptible to any stresses. But I am only assuming, because it seems logical. Thanks for the info., thats good to know.

K-Ellen, since you are new to trees, know that some degree of leaf spotting is completely normal, especially by late summer. You did say there were some of these leaf spots early on but just for general knowledge, by late Aug and into Sept. there have been many opportunities for this fungus or that bacterial blight to do its thing. Almost always, these things are ultimately of no consequence.

Likewise with insect feeding; Especially in dry summers, insect populations reach a crescendo by late summer. Trees are evolved to deal with this in most cases. Now introduced pests-that's another matter. Many if not most of our serious insect problems have to do with foreign invaders for which native plants, like our Cornus mas, have no resistance to.

But I digress. If I had to lay money down on the future of this plant, I'd be betting on the side that says it will give you years of enjoyment.

+oM

wisconsitom-thanks! I am considering an organic fungicide in the spring. Its pretty ugly looking right now, so the spotting has definately done its thing.

Hopefully this pic comes through. This was earlier in the year.

Trying again.

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/vg3492.jpg[/IMG]

{{gwi:417216}}
Excuse me while I figure out how to post.

Wow, katrina_ellen - I think you really have nothing to be concerned about. If you think you need to apply a fungicide, go for it. But that is pretty innocuous leaf disturbance. Go forth and prosper.

@ wisconsitom: you might double-check, but I'm pretty sure good old Cornus mas is a European/Asian native.

You are correct sir. Did I say otherwise? If so, I misspoke. Hey, it happens!

+oM

Does anyone have any dormant cornus mas cuttings available? I'd love to get some named varieties to graft onto the seedlings that I have. I have much to trade! Send me an email.