Dogwoods to make best showing in first weekend of Palestine festival

By CHERIL VERNON

Messenger Copy Editor

PALESTINE – For those who love the beauty of the dogwood flower, there’s some good news and bad news.

The good news is that the dogwoods are blooming across the East Texas area, especially in Palestine. For those who enjoy viewing the dogwoods, Davey Dogwood Park in Palestine has more than 200 acres filled with hundreds of dogwood trees.

“We’re mostly in full bloom,” Anderson County Agricultural Extension Agent Truman Lamb told the Messenger recently.

The bad news is that the dogwood are blooming a little earlier than normal.

“It’s all dependent on the weather. If we get cooler temperatures that will help. But if we bust back into hot temperatures, it’s certainly going to push the blooms and they will not stay,” Lamb advised.

Because the dogwoods are blooming early, it’s possible that the dogwoods may not still be in bloom for all three weekends of Palestine’s 79th Annual Dogwood Trails Festival set for March 24-26, March 31-April 2 and April 7-9.

“I believe that we will be good through the first weekend, but after that I just don’t know,” Lamb said.

Certain weather conditions can either help or hurt the dogwoods.

“It all depends on the cooler weather. We’ve got the moisture to keep them around, but the hotter weather will make them disappear,” Lamb said. “If we get a high wind, it will blow a lot of the blooms off.”

The warmer weather is actually helping those growing fruit for local wineries.

“They are doing fantastic. But in the event that we have a killing frost at this point, it’s going to get everything,” Lamb said. “It’s going to take our peaches, pears, plums and grapes and burn all of those buds.”

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The 254-acre Davey Dogwood Park is located at 900 N. Link St. in Palestine.

For more information about dogwoods or other agricultural matters, call the Anderson County Extension Office at 903-723-3735.

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