KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Don’t be alarmed if your dogwood trees bloom in September. Just enjoy it, a forester with the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service said Monday.
Larry Tankersley said fall blooms sometimes occur when the length of late summer days confuses young dogwoods. But fall blooms are no threat to the trees.
“I get a few calls every year from people wondering why their dogwoods are blooming. Basically, its a hormone problem in the immature trees,” Tankersley said. “The length of days now is almost identical to that of the spring.
“The hormones read the daylight as a signal to flower, and hormones that control that response are not yet full grown.”
Within a few years, the trees’ hormones are balanced and late blooming stops, Tankersley said.
Blooming in the fall does not harm the young dogwoods, but it could mean fewer blooms in the spring, he said.
“It’s just one of those neat things that nature does every now and then. It may happen to other plants but the dogwoods are more showy, so we notice it more in them.”
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Contact: Larry Tankersley(423-974-7977)