When the days are short and the trees are bare, one plant still glows with colour in the garden – the shrubby dogwood. Dogwoods are part of the Cornus family, a group of deciduous trees and shrubs. While flowering dogwoods are at their best in summer, shrubby dogwoods hide in the background all year, then explode onto centre stage in winter, shedding their leaves to reveal the brilliantly coloured stems beneath.