Dogwoods are among the first things to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Farmers believed that it wasn’t safe to plant their crops until the dogwoods bloomed, so they welcomed the sight of the beautiful white flowers each year.
There’s an old Christian tale that the cross that Jesus was crucified on was made of dogwood. At the time the dogwood was one of the largest and strongest trees around Jerusalem. After Jesus’s crucifixion, God changed the dogwood to a smaller tree with twisted branches to ensure that the wood could never be used to make crosses again. The four petals of the blooms signify the cross and the rust colored indentation on each petal represent the indentation of the nails that held Jesus to the cross.
I’m not particularly religious but I think that we can all agree that the dogwood blooms are a welcome indication that the cold days of Winter have come to an end.
