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.)