dogwoods

Has anyone any experience with chinese dogwood? Specifically, cornus kousa "Milky Way"?

Not that one but I have 'Satomi' and it's wonderful. Beautiful pink blooms, weeks after native dogwoods bloom, and very good fall color. I love it.

I have a cornus kousa "summer stars" that I planted in 2002. It is about 7 feet tall and vigorous, but has yet to bloom! And I don't see any flower buds on it now...

We've had Cornus kousa in our gardens for over 10 years and it's matured into a lovely tree and is spectacular in flower. Love the fact that it blooms later and is resistant to the diseases/pests which C. florida is prone to.

We have had 'Satomi' (below) for about 3-4 years now - although flowers are at best a pale pink for us, not the rich pink I had hoped for, we planted 'Heart Throb' last fall and looking forward to the darker red flowers. Impressed with the foliage on 'Heart Throb' - really attractive red tones when the cooler temps hit here in Sept/Oct. Also planted a weeping form ('Weaver's Weeping') and an evergreen form, C. kousa var. angustata, (evergreen in Zone 7 that is) that should be interesting once they have an opportunity to establish themselves.

In answer to your question, Chinese Dogwoods perform beautifully in our climate and 'Milky Way', known for its excellent flowering habit, should be no exception.

Debbie

I agree with all the sentiments listed above, and will add some background.

Cornus kousa 'Milky Way' is one/several of those plants that you probably will never pin down. What is sold today originates from multiple seedlings collected and propagated years ago, NOT a single parent plant. These plants were selected for larger and more precocious flowering, so that is all good. Performance likely will vary from plant to plant though, and many plants are being sold as 'Milky Way' seedlings, which means even further variation.

All that being said...I haven't seen a disappointing 'Milky Way' kousa dogwood ever. Just variable. The best answer when choosing young dogwoods is to recognize whether there are flower buds on the plant you are buying. If so (and by judging relative amount of flower buds across the plant), then you should be able to "make the call" about whether you'll be happy with the plant instant gratification-wise.

There are so many superior clones of dogwoods available today, that no one should ever have to purchase something second-rate. Unless you are doing a restoration project and don't wish to have the genetic variability from seedling-grown plants, then pick a winner the first time. Heavily flower-budded young plants should be purchased and you will have instant delight in your landscape the first year.

Last word: just about every kousa dogwood holds within it the potential for fabulous flowering. If it is not performing well now...just wait. This plant will become the star of many landscapes for:

•its striated dome habit
•late spring/early summer flowering after the foliage emerges
•interesting and colorful raspberry/strawberry like fruit in fall (which can be a bit of a mess as it is copious in time)
•multiple color arrays as the leaves turn
•and finally, the very nice exfoliating bark in creams, grays, whites, and tans which will develop as your tree ages

Site it well, and enjoy.

Does anyone have one of the evergreen kousa dogwoods (Cornus kousa var. angustata)? What I am interested in is its flowering habit. I planted one about 2' tall last year that I obtained from ForestFarm and have been very pleased with its performance so far. Very interesting winter leaf coloration.

Isn't there a C.florida X kousa for sale now?

Aurora, Celestial, Ruth Ellen, Stardust, Stellar Pink and I think Constellation are C. florida x kousa, the 'Stellar' trademark series from Rutgers U.

Forestfarm has a few, I'm surprised Rare Find nursery doesn't list them on their site yet.

Here they are, they're called C. rutgersensis:

http://www.forestfarm.com/search/search.asp?aPage=4&index=genus&field-keywords=cornus

http://agproducts.rutgers.edu/stellar_pink.html

This message was edited Feb 21, 2007 1:27 PM

I have what's left of a cornus kousa dogwood - it's about 4 years old and a stub right now. I cut it way down because it was dying - I also dug it up and moved it to a different location last fall.
It bloomed the first year and then a downward decline since.
I was told by a local nursery that they don't do very well in my area.

I too love my 'Satomi' seen here. Quite a spectacular specimen in our garden. My 'Milky Way' died here in our zone 4b.

I want to plant a Dogwood and a Magnolia in zone 6, SE, mostly sun and verrry windy. Do they tolerate wind? Thanks for any information.