I T’S NOT THE BEST KOUSA DOGWOOD YEAR EVER here, with only half-hearted blooms in most cases and some of the gang having taken a decided hit in the up-and-down weather. But it’s Cornus kousa (or Korean dogwood) season nonetheless, so time to visit the gang and celebrate them.
I have an unnamed Kousa seedling near the front path (top and above), a favorite of the chipmunks when it’s in fruit because they live in a wall right beneath the tree (their post-feast debris, below). Its “feet” are hidden by two low-growing prostrate golden yews (above), which will show off the peeling Kousa bark nicely year-round as the trunk shapes up with age.
My favorite Kousa, the variegated shrublike one called ‘Wolf Eyes,’ looks anything but happy right now, perhaps a combination of an extra-dry May with repeat late frosts tossed in for good measure. That’s it below, in the distance.
Mea culpa for not watering it properly, I guess; it looked good early on and then, poof, toast. No brittle twigs, thankfully; just lots of crisp leaf edges. I’m watching for signs of what it wants to do next before I do anything but keep it well-hydrated (no food, no pruning, not yet).
And then there’s the smallest: a weeping Kousa, the one called ‘Lustgarten Weeping’ that I almost tossed, as those of you who were here last year will recall. Despite the fact that my un-beloved yellow bellied sapsucker male apparently moved from the nearby lacebark pine that was his passion last year to the weeping Kousa sometime in the last few months, it’s flowering mightily (the appropriately smaller flowers, above), trying to carry on as if nobody turned its bark to a stencil pattern. Yikes, and just when I had finally gotten to like the plant (of course).
Admittedly, I have a wandering eye. I’ve been noticing a few pink-flowered Kousas nearby the last week in my travels and feeling almost tempted…maybe there will be another adoption soon, but I have some reading to do first on which varieties are best, or whether an intermediate hybrid between C. kousa and C. florida would be better. Which Kousa dogwoods do you grow, and how are they faring this year as spring turns to summer?
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Do you know Don Shadow? At this year’s Mid-Atlantic Hardy Plant Soc. ‘March Into Spring” affair, he talked for an hour about every conceivable kind of Dogwood! You would not believe all the different Kousa/Florida crosses there are! If you want to know anything about Dogwoods, I’d say he’s the guy to go to.
Alas, they don’t live here. But I’m really posting to thank you for the tips on getting clematis to go where you want them. So simple. A stick and a handful of lime and I finally have tons of buds in the Rosa Glauce. Thanks.
Last fall my neighbors had a number of trees moved on their property. A landscape service initially planted a Kousa Dogwood, right up by the foundation of their house. My neighbor, for a few years tried keeping it’s growth habit under control to no avail. Last fall the MUCH pruned tree was dug out, by a plant moving service, and it now boarders my north side garden. It will be intersting to see how Mother Nature handles it’s reshaping, now that it can grow as it wants.
@Marion: How great that you got to hear Don Shadow, one the greatest nurserymen of the era. He also has a passion for Japanese maples and so many other things. What a treat!
@Balsamfir: I am glad you and the Clematis are getting on better. :) (And BTW, I love Rosa glauca, too.)
@Fred: Painful to hear about its unfortunate haircuts, but glad the tree was released from its too-small place. As for how it will look eventually, hmmmm…..
I live in Columbia County, not far from you and I have many wild dogwoods on my property. When I bought the place (26 years ago) I was told that there is a blight that kills this wild variety of dogwood just as they reach maturity but so far they seem to be doing fine. Do you know the botanical name for these wild dogwoods and do you know anything about this “blight”?
Welcome, Alison. If they are trees, they are probably Cornus florida, the native flowering dogwood. They often get nice fall foliage color and produce orange-red fruits as well. Another smallish tree, Cornus alternifolia, is also native to the region, but I suspect you mean C. florida. Both can get diseases, but the C. florida in particular are susceptible to a fungal disease called anthracnose, which is particularly harsh in wet years. You can read about this problem (an introduced diseased that has been in the US since the 70s) in this fact sheet from Cornell.
While I live in a bit warmer area than you do it is basically zone 5/6. I may not have Don Shadow here but I do Have Dick Jaynes as a friend. I have a Ck ‘Summer Games’ which is, I believe a seed sibling of ‘Wolf Eyes’ and it is great. I also have a young plant of ‘Beni Fugi’. It is pink but has not reached a maturity so that it flowers well yet. I also save some random seedings and with kousa there are usually plenty. One that has reached maturity is a cross with florida, i think and looks like the Stellars and blooms between the two species.
I was warned away from dogwoods in my zone, unless planted as understory, so avoided this particular heartache… so far.
I’m so happy that you posted this! I’ve seen a few of these and was wondering what they were called! I see them all over Delaware (where i live) and they all look amazing. So i def need one for my yard.
Welcome, Chase Cline. The Kousas are a showy bunch, aren’t they? Glad to “meet” you and do come again soon.
I have a Kousa and it’s the same size now as when I first planted!! Maybe needs to relocate!
I have a nameless pink Cornus Kousa that (according to my notes) I bought in Nov 2002 for 75% off. It was the first tree I ever planted – and I was 62 at the time. Who knew I’d spend my dotage planting TREES? The same notes indicate that I gave it a drastic pruning in June, 2004. “Too much foliage clustered at low level”, I observed. I do recall that it was all kind of a tangled mess. Since then it has met all my modest growing and blooming expectations, though its growth has been much more horizontal than I anticipated – maybe the result of my ad hoc pruning techniques?
Unexpectedly, this year there were only a few scattered blooms. I took it personally. But now that I think of it, the white Kousas that I usually notice all over town around now aren’t putting on much of a show either.
It does seem to be shaping up to be a good year for the hydrangeas!
I bought a Florida last fall( I live in lakeville, Ct.) and put it adjacent to my new shade border. It gets some sun and has gotten thru a tough experience this Winter. One of it’s two branches broke off (?..how that happened is beyond my understanding)and it now has a sinuous, sway back shape. It could be quite lovely and it is leafing out beautifully.
I bought it ’cause it is a native but your blog clues me in to the fact it is prone to disease. Oh well..what we learn after we committ. benjia
Margaret,
Last Friday at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s “Rare Affair” we sold a Cornus “Venus”–a cross between kousa and the cornus nuttalli (sp?) from the Pacific NW. Upright habit, large white flowers that turn to pink as they age, and apparently bone hardy in zone 5. It was absolutely gorgeous, and if I hadn’t just planted a plain old kousa in my last available spot I’d be sorely tempted–love the chance to get both white and then pink!
Welcome, Steve. The dogwood sounds beautiful. Time to study up over here on what’s up with newish dogwood selections, I think. Uh-oh. Could mean more plants. :)
My current favorite is C. k. ‘angustifolia’ (listed as a separate species by many sources). Mine is relatively young, but maintains its clean foliage through the winter (though without fall color – can’t have everything) and is growing like a champ. I was lucky enough to be wandering with Pamela Harper through her incredible garden the other night just before dusk, and her specimen lit our way back to the house (and her spectacular carrot cake!) with its shower of ivory blooms along the long gravel drive.
Welcome, Steve. Now you, too, are sending me to the reference materials. I fear this post and all the resulting anecdotes and suggestions are going to really cost me some $$$. :) Thanks for your visit, and come again soon.
I finally found a Kousa “Wolf-Eyes” in a local Cape Cod nursery yesterday. I’m planting it this morning in advance of days of rain! If the weather predictions are right, it should be perfectly watered in thanks to a wet several days. [We, too, have had more rain than sun this June.] Fortunately, the complete 6 disc collection of the British garden mystery series, “Rosemary and Thyme” arrived on my doorstep yesterday as well.
Dear Margaret, I have posted twice about the dogwood “Venus”, developed at Rutgers University. A hybrid of C. Kousa, and C. Nutallii (this looks spelled wrong)-it is hardier than C. Kousa, loves full sun-and best of all, has giant white flowers-measuring 6-7 inches across. It was in flower for me a full four weeks, before the blooms pinked, and fell. It is the most fabulous flowering tree I have ever had the pleasure to plant. Deborah
Welcome, Deborah. Nice to see you; thanks for the glowing recommendation. I am reading up (including at your place). See you soon again.
Wondered if anyone has had my experience this year. My Kousa dogwood outdid itself in 2008 with blossoms and fruits. This year (June 2009) the leaves are much larger than normal and there have been very few blossoms — and those appeared mostly on one side of the tree. Could it have been the dry winter we had in New Jersey?
With those kousa fruits, why not make a pie? I’d love to know how it tastes if you do. Edible Landscapes of Afton, Va., sells Kousa for fruit. Would you call it kousaberry?
Welcome, Pat. I have tried them and they taste OK, but you have to fight the chipmunks here for the crop (as with everything else….somebody else eats it before you get to it). I think if they were unbelievably tasty I would fight harder, but as I recall they are just OK: sweet, and I think the skin is a little tough or bumpy (can’t recall exactly). But yes, cute: kousaberry pie!
At the beginning of June I purchased a beautiful pink cornus kousa “satomi”. We planted it as we had been told and watered it every day and then reduced it to every other day when we hit a rainy spell. Eventually the flowers were blown off by the wind and several sets of new leaves appeared at the end of each branch. Two weeks later the edges of the leaves began to turn brown and curl. It is planted in a sunny location but as I said we haven’t gotten much sun this year. Is it not being watered enough? Is it planted in the wrong place? If I need to move it when should it be done (November)? Please help and I don’t want to lose it!!!
Thanks so much.
Welcome, Tracey. I have had the same experience after moving a Kousa here, with that characteristic leaf-edge browning. Don’t feed it, and don’t overwater (or let it dry, of course). Really check by sticking your fingers deep into the surrounding soil whether it needs watering again….it’s not meant to be swimming. And don’t move it again. The root-disturbance of the move has probably affected the plant’s ability to take up water, or it wasn’t well-hydrated before the move, so it just needs to sulk and recover on its own, I think. Again, just don’t add to the stress with food, another move, or over/underwatering.