Who Took the Flowers?

  Back when I was a kid early spring meant several things.  Gnats would suddenly appear, it was time to plant potatoes and the English Dogwood bloomed profusely in every yard in the neighborhood.  A couple of these have not changed.  Those pesky gnats still gnaw away on any skin that is exposed and the potatoes have been planted but where are the showy white blooms?  What used to be a staple in almost every garden has now gone the wayside.  For some odd reason, this flowering shrub has fallen out of popularity with present day gardeners.  I do not understand it.

  The English Dogwood is in bloom here on the Bayou, though, as I try to baby the shrub enough to keep it growing.  While mine is nowhere near the size of Pop's nice plumb bush, at least it graces the yard with its beauty each spring.  I have noticed that things bloom in waves here with the first being the azaleas and forsythias.  Next come the satumas, oranges and wisterias.  As soon as those start to wane, the English Dogwood picks up the slack and lingers until the Confederate Jasmine and roses take over.   This pulls us into the heat of summer with the crepe myrtles, magnolias and gardenias but this time of spring is solely devoted to that shrub known as English Dogwood.  It is a strange thing that each of those others is highly scented.  The yard is blasted with one aroma after another except when it comes time for the white blooms to decorate the yard.  No scent whatsoever can be detected.  While the flowers are gorgeous as they cascade down the drooping branches, nary a scent can be detected.  Makes me wonder why.  Why, with all of the other highly scented blooms drawing the honeybees and hummingbirds, does this shrub not do the same?  Do these blooms not need pollinating?  

  The English Dogwood is sort of a misnomer as the shrub is not English nor is it a dogwood. Sometimes it is erroneously called a Mock Orange but it is not even kin to the citrus trees. The bush is a bit more akin to hydrangeas than anything else.  It is easy to grow and can stand long spans of time with little attention.  There have been tales of folks who have rescued shrubs from their grandparents' yards after years of inattention and have been blessed with a hardy shrub.  So why has this gone the wayside?  Why, with the renewed interest in gardening, has the English Dogwood not been reinstated to its former glory in the landscapes of new houses?  Where have all the flowers gone?