It was tiny on purchase, it came in a 9cm pot. I knew it would take a while to reach any real size and I was prepared to wait. Whilst waiting it suffered a few accidents. I mowed it once which removed the main growing shoot. A year or so later part of the overhanging Black Poplar tree fell on it, that removed the second main growing shoot. I also kept pruning it back every spring expecting this to encourage growth. I shall give you not only my top-tip for this cornus. Whilst cornus like to have a hard prune to produce their coloured young stems, in its first few years I have found through experience it is better not to prune it harshly. It needs to establish and build a bit of a framework to produce some good sized new stems.
So for this month's irritating plant I give you the Cornus 'Midwinter Fire', it looked the best I've seen it yet in the recent snow as it has been allowed to grow a bit for the past couple of years. The reason why this plant is irritating is not the fault of the plant, it is (as is often the case) the fault of the gardener (me). This appears to be the recurring theme of this meme.....
Do you have any irritating plants?
