History of the dogwood:  The dogwood is a traditional spring flowering tree boasting white, pink or red blooms.  The blooms are in fact not flowers but leaf bracts that emerge in spring.  Early scriptures note that the wood from this tree was used to build the cross that bore Jesus, because of it's straight trunk.  Hearing the dogwood's despair, God took pity and granted the tree's wish to never be used again in this manner.  That is why today, the tree grows shorter and with bent and knarled trunks.  To this day, each four petaled flower is tipped with red, to signify the points at which Jesus was nailed to the cross.