The Dogwoods are in BLOOM!

This weekend is going to be the PRIME time to see the dogwood blooms this season. 

There are still a few that are waiting to open, but they are extremely neat looking. 

The center of the dogwood is the actual flower. If you look closely, the little green bulbs bloom as well. You can see it in this picture.

Below are more pictures of the dogwood blooms taken on Thursday inside Davey Dogwood Park. They look fantastic. We could not be more excited, especially after the lack of blooms we had last year. There are a good amount of dogwood to see in the park and all around town. 

There are many other dogwood trees to see all over town. South Sycamore St. is a great street and looks good with all the historic homes. Plus, there are trees all over the South Side and North Side historic district. Be sure to stop by the Visitor Center and get a map, so you can find these neighborhoods.

Want to see more pictures? Check us out on Instagram @texasdogwoodtrails. Our instagram account also shows up on our website: www.TexasDogwoodTrails.com!

Want to win a DIAMOND?!

If you haven't heard on Facebook! We are hosting a Davey Dogwood Park Reforestation event!

Anderson County and Palestine Economic Development Corporation have teamed up to host a reforestation event inside Davey Dogwood Park. There are 750 seedlings to be planted, so take a small break from the festival and come to the DDP on Saturday, March 16 from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.

You can win a 1/3 ct. DIAMOND for planting a dogwood seedling. For each seedling you plant, that is one entry to win. Big thanks to Steve Neel Jewelers and the Law Office of Brian Walsh for sponsoring the diamond.

It is actually really easy to plant a dogwood seedling. You just take a small shovel wiggle it in the ground a make a small hole that the seedling will fit in, place it in the hole, fill the dirt back in... DONE.

We have the seedlings and we have some shovels (if you happen to have a shovel and feel like bringing it... go for it) and we will have people there to help you. Planting locations have been marked with orange flags, so you will know you are planting in the right place. EASY RIGHT? We think so.

Also, the flags are numbered. After you plant your tree or TREES you can tell us the numbers where you planted, we will take down your information and email you the GPS coordinates so that way you can find your seedling and check on its progress year after year!

We hope to see you there!

Beautiful Full Blooms/Fresh Buds in time for the festival!

Tomorrow is the Dogwood Trails Festival! Check out www.TexasDogwoodTrails.com to get the details on the events and activities happening at the festival and all over town!

 (The red buds look amazing!)

We took a drive through Davey Dogwood Park today to check on the progress of the blooms. We have a few trees that have bloomed, but are not a full bloom and many that are ready to open!

Davey Dogwood Tips!

When you enter the park, it is a gorgeous view of greenery and red bud trees. As you get deeper into the park you will start to see more dogwood trees and there VERY full buds.

Make sure you visit Manley Mountain when you enter the park; it is at the top of the first hill to the left. Manley Mountain is a look out point where you can see for miles.

(View from Manley Mountain.)

A great photo op of a single dogwood tree is at the bus entrance. There is one beautiful lone dogwood tree. It is one of the best trees in the park and is the tree we use when determining when the dogwoods are going to bloom.

(The lone dogwood tree at the bus entrance.)

The BEST place to take pictures is in the pavilion and picnic area. This is were we have the most concentration of dogwood trees in the whole park.

(View looking at the pavilion.)

Mostly Buds with a Slight Chance of Blossoms

After taking a stroll through Davey Dogwood Park this morning, we could see that there are many trees with buds on them but only a few have started to bloom.

(A bloom found this morning!)

Currently, we do have one tree in bloom. It is past the bus entrance to Davey Dogwood Park on the left hand side of the road going toward the pavilion.

Typically this is the week that the dogwood buds to start to bloom. However, this year due to more constant cooler weather, the buds are blooming a little later than they have over the past five years. We are predicting that the weekend of March 23 will be when the dogwood blossoms are at their peak!

When you come down for the Dogwood Trails Celebration and visit for the festival this weekend, make sure you drive through Davey Dogwood Park. Even though there won't be as many blooms as we had hoped, there will be a few and the buds and yellow blossoms are pretty as well.

Dogwood Blossoms are Taking a Peek!

The buds are starting to peek open and a few are in early bloom.

Mark Price, our expert horticulturalist says the blooms will not be at their peak for festival weekend (weekend of March 16), but there will be nice blooms to see.

We are predicting that the dogwoods will be in full bloom just before the second weekend of the Celebration.

Remember! The Celebration is the last three weekends in March. This is a time honored tradition and many businesses and organizations are hosting events and activities to celebrate. Check out, www.TexasDogwoodTrails.com to see what is happening all three weekends and decide when you want to visit the Dogwood Trails.

Dogwoods LOVE Cold Weather

We have had a surprising span of cooler weather this past January and February with much needed cold rain. As much as many of us here in Texas don’t like the cold, the dogwood trees sure love it and consider it the perfect conditions for growth.

Unfortunately, with all the great weather for dogwoods we have done a survey of the roads throughout Davey Dogwood Park and discovered that many of the trees that are near the driving trails did not survive the drought from the summer of 2011.

(Above is a tree inside that Davey Dogwood Park that did not survive the drought. You can tell because it has dead, browned leaves still on the tree, even in the middle of Spring.)

You might wonder why it took so long to determine the damage caused by the drought. Wouldn’t we have figured that our during the 2012 Dogwood Trails Celebration? It seems only logical that we would, but sometimes trees will become dormant and not bloom the following year after a bad drought and then resume their normal blooming habits after weather conditions have returned to normal.

Although we have experienced some lost, we are seeing signs of life! The trees that are developing buds are doing really well and will look amazing. This year more than ever, Palestine has a reason to cherish the dogwood blossoms. We have been celebrating their beauty for 75 years and plan to keep the tradition alive by doing reforestation efforts over the next couple of years. 

(Lovely dogwood buds forming! Can't wait for the blooms.)

Rain = Blooms in Palestine, Texas!

It was rainy here in Palestine, Texas all weekend long (January 25-27). While most Texan appreciate the rain, we are not always huge fans of nasty weather, but in Palestine, rainy weather conditions equal great blooming conditions. 

In order to have a good blooming season we need to have good, cold rain during the months of November, December and January. We did not see much rain in November, but did see some in December. In January there was a good amount of cold rain and we were excited to the burn ban lifted for Anderson County. We are hoping to see more in February to make up for November. 

Below is a wet and GREEN Davey Dogwood Park!

We saw signs of life!

While we were exploring Davey Dogwood Park we saw buds on a few dogwood trees. They are appearing earlier in the season than usual, but our expert horticulturalist says this is a good sign that we may be seeing more blooms this year. This is good to hear. Last year, we saw fewer blooms than we were expecting due to the drought in 2011. We are hoping for a fantastic 2013, but we will have to keep waiting through February to know for sure.

Below is dogwood tree buds in the rain!

Keep checking back to stay posted on the progress of the blooms and activities happening leading up to and during the Dogwood Trails Celebration. Like us on Facebook and get involved in the 75 Days of Giveaways at www.facebook.com/dogwoodtrails.

Official Bloom Watch Begins!

It is that time of year again. Time to start watching the weather and predicting when we will see blooms. It is time for the Official Dogwood Bloom Watch!

Photo by: Rhonda Redden, 2012

The Dogwood Trails Celebration has been a 75-year tradition for Palestine, Texas. Last year, the Dogwood Trails Celebration was the last two weekends in March and the first weekend of April. This year, due to changes in blooming patterns, the Celebration will be the last three weekends in March to ensure that you come to visit during peak blooming season.

Last year was a rough year for the Dogwood Trails. We did not have as many dogwoods blooming in Davey Dogwood Park and in the Palestine area as we normally have. The drought that happened the summer of 2011 had an extreme effect on the dogwood trees and blooms in 2012. The drought did cause some of the dogwoods in the Palestine to die and for some to go dormant and shed their leaves in order to save themselves from the drought, which threw off the dogwood trees blooming schedule. On top of that, a storm came through two days before the start of the Celebration and many petals of the flowers that did bloom were knocked to the ground.

This year, we have reason to hope for a good year. Although we are still not sure about how many dogwood trees died from the drought in 2011, we have had plenty of good, cold rain which are perfect conditions to prepare the dogwoods to blooms. We will have better insight about how many dogwoods will actually bloom in mid-February when the dogwood trees start to develop buds.

We are counting down from 75 days starting today until the end of the Dogwood Trails Celebration. To start off the countdown for the Celebration the City of Palestine and the Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce, along with Palestine area businesses, are doing “75 Days of Giveaways.” Starting today, Thursday, January 17, 2013 through the end of the Dogwood Trails Celebration on Sunday, March 31, 2013 we will give away an item a day to anyone near and far who shares our statuses about the Dogwood Trails. Giveaways range from coffee mugs to hotel stays to diamonds, so be sure to like us at www.facebook.com/dogwoodtrails to learn the rules and check back for what items are up for grabs!

For more information on the Dogwood Trails Celebration visit www.TexasDogwoodTrails.com.