The Flowering Dogwood – Hardwood

April 13, 2025

Shenandoah Valley of VA

Tree #5/50

The Flowering Dogwood is the state tree of Virginia.  I visited the state in mid April when these beautiful flowers were blooming.  I travelled down the Shenandoah Valley taking in the scenery of patches of snow-white flowers dotting an otherwise grey mountainside.  As I traveled south I found more and more green as trees were already blooming. 

I chose a Dogwood specimen close to Appomattox Va.  Dogwood trees are a bit too small to climb so I enjoyed this tree from the ground.  There’s a lot of history to unpack here.  Dogwoods are a symbol of protection and safety to many American Indian groups in the Southeast.  The wood from this tree is extremely dense and as I recall was sometimes used to make weapons.  Appomattox was where the Civil War effectively ended when General Lee surrendered to General Grant in April of 1865.  I visited almost exactly 159 years later, to the day.  This tells me the Dogwood trees would have been flowering at the time of this important meeting providing a fitting scene of peace and beauty as our nation began the process of healing.