January 28

          I took a red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea, aka Cornus stolonifera) and an alder to Neskowin Valley School, to plant with the 1st/2nd graders while I subbed.  But we made potato bread, too (imagine nine kids with dough to knead and lots of flour . . .  on us, the table, the floor -- fun!), and didn't have time to plant.  The kids will plant them later.  Great kids - I had them each sign my tree planting journal, and since they write in their journals each day in class, they took this seriously.
          The red osier dogwood has white flowers, but it's the redness of the stems in winter that are its claim to fame.  We have one in our front yard and it is traffic stoppingly red in winter.  When it leafs out in March, the red fades quite a bit.  It is very, very easy to start from cuttings.  I've had success just pushing clippings into soil outdoors in spring - and they grow!
This plant is native over much of northern North America.