Click images to enlarge.
Features
Tiered branches bearing pretty, green/white variegated leaves, tinged pink in cold weather. The white edged leaves and white flowers (borne on small, flat, heads) give this plant an overall silvery-white appearance. The fruits are small black berries.
What to use it for
Great for cottage-style and other informal planting schemes. Looks good in borders and can help highlight darker plants grown in front of it.
How to look after it
Requires little maintenance.
How to prune it
Can be pruned from autumn to early spring. Little pruning is required, except to remove any dead, damaged or diseased growth.
However, if you wish to you can train this as a standard (ie so that it has a clear trunk). This can be done by gradually clearing the trunk of side stems up to a height of 1 to 1.5m. This should be done over a period of 2 to 3 years. In this period, any competing leaders should also be removed, so just a single, strong leader remains.
How to propagate it
The simpler method, albeit that you get slower results, is to take softwood cuttings in late spring to early summer. For the more adventurous, it can be grafted onto Cornus florida or Cornus kousa rootstock with a whip or spliced side veneer graft in late winter.
Common problems
Generally this plant is problem free.
Other useful information
Has received the Royal Horticultural Society ‘Award of Garden Merit‘.
The cultivar name ‘Argentea’ refers to the silvery-white colour of the plant.
