Of the 17 species of dogwood native to North America, the four most common garden types are native flowering dogwoods, Pacific dogwood, Cornelian cherry dogwood and kousa dogwoods.n the winter, the tree has an attractive silhouette with small buds at the tips of the branches. Flowering dogwoods grow to between 12 and 20 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 6 to 12 inches. They thrive in sun or shade. Those in full sun are shorter with better leaf color, especially in the fall.