what is this tree?

alissa2128

Can someone tell me what this is? We got it as a gift two years ago when we moved into our house, we had planted it in the fall of that year, and by spring I forgot what it was! My mom bought it for us and she can't remember either because it's not what she was originally going to get for us.

 

Dr.Loretta

My first guess would be hydrangea, or another shrub we have that I can't remember the name of for the life of me.

alissa2128

That's what I used to think it was, but it looks nothing like my other hydrangea, so I decided it can't be that.

living_insanity

There are multiple kinds of hydrangea.  Some are called lace top I think.  They have a different looking bloom, less like a round ball like

TootsieK

In the second picture, the leaves on the left, about halfway up, look exactly like dogwood leaves to me.  I know there is some kind of dogwood with red stems, but I've never seen it in real life.  Could this be what it is?

Dr.Loretta

It could also be Viburnum. That's the name I couldn't think of before.

~NB~

Dr.Loretta:

It could also be Viburnum. That's the name I couldn't think of before.

That was the first thing I thought as well, but I just don't recognize it.

alissa2128

It's the mystery tree! LOL

FoxinFiji

I have all of the suggestions thrown out there so I'm saying dogwood.  It looks a lot like my dwarf 'Arctic Fire' dogwood (which is a shrub variety not a tree kind) so that was my first guess anyway.  This time of year hydrangeas should have distinctive buds on them or are already blooming.  My viburnum have all finished blooming too.  I know there are some later blooming varieties but they should still have buds on them.  So by process of elimination I say it's a dogwood. 

~NB~

FoxinFiji:

... by process of elimination I say it's a dogwood. 

The foliage is very dogwood-like, but that apical bud is making it tough for me to commit! I do think Dogwood is a very good guess, because the genus is so vast. I wouldn't necessarily say Cornus sericea, but it may be C. rugosa or C. alternifolia. Both have pinkish stems.

alissa2128

Thank you all for your insight!

I don't know if this helps at all, but when we got it in the fall of '09 it had flowers (so when we planted it). Last year it had those same buds, but it never actually flowered. This year it has the buds again, it did have a rough winter with all of the snow we got here, it was buried and lost a few branches, so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't flower again this year (our azaleas didn't, also damaged by the snow, but they look very healthy).