Height: 1.5 m (5 feet)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 feet)
Bloom: small cream, unnoticable
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Foliage: variegated, green with white edge
Pluses: foliage, winter interest, small size

Cornus alba ‘Ivory Halo’ is a four season dogwood. It has distinct red stems for winter interest but also has the advantage of bright variegated foliage in summer. Ivory Halo is a smaller, slower growing variety that reaches 5 to 6 feet or smaller depending upon how it is pruned. With many dogwoods you can prune all canes to within 10 inches of the ground to encourage brighter cane growth. With Ivory Halo I only remove about 1/3 of the canes each year as they grow back more slowly than some other varieties.

Variegated foliage of Cornus Ivory Halo Dogwood

The variegated foliage is useful for brightening a dark spot in the garden or as a backdrop for other plants. The overall shape is slightly vase shaped with darker purple red stems in the summer. Foliage is light green with creamy white edges.

It’s smaller size makes it more useful in gardens than ‘Elegantissima’ which grows much more rapidly and reaches sizes of 8 or more feet and needs more frequent renewal pruning to stay tidy looking. As with many dogwoods, the winter stems turn a brighter red as the winter progresses.

Bright red stems of Cornus Ivory Halo provide winter interest

Garden Location: Kitchen Patio Garden, Woodland Garden