Hi. I am a native of Maryland and now live in Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee -- in the Holy Hill area, if you are familiar with that. I have brought 2 dogwood trees from Maryland, one is a wild dogwood that would bloom white and the other is a purchased pink dogwood from a Maryland nursery. Since I have had the dogwoods out here (3 to 5 years) they are not blooming. I have them planted in protected areas of the yard and they are growing very well. Is there something that I need to do to the soil? Also, I noticed this year that a tiny spider web kept forming on the pink dogwood. I would really love to have them bloom, it's one of the many things that I miss from Maryland.
I don't know if we have any other Milwaukee gardeners registered on the forums who could give you advice. From our point of view (here in Vancouver, BC), Cornus florida (eastern dogwood) is and exceptionally hardy plant (USDA Zone 5 = average annual minimum -20F); however, Michael Dirr states in the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Stipes Publishing, Champaign Il.) that "...minimal flower production (in the Midwest is) principally caused by lack of flower bud hardiness." He suggests planting only trees derived from those that are indigenous to the immediate area. Cornus florida has a huge geographical and climatic range -- Massachusetts to Florida, west to southern Ontario, Texas and Mexico. Plants from the southern part of the range typically show less tolerance to cold and many popular cultivars are derived from southern areas. Check out Dirr's book for an exhaustive list of cultivars (including information on their origins). The book is widely available, as most agricultural colleges and universities recommend it for their plant identification courses. Good luck!