Kousa Dogwoods

My son had a singing concert in New London last weekend and I plucked a very large, creamy white kousa dogwood blossom and tucked it behind my ear. Both my son and husband thought I looked Spanish. I was simply having fun, and even braved Blockbuster with the bloom sprouting out of my ear.

I never knew, though, that not all kousa dogwoods weren't created equal. The blossoms I have on my tree are much smaller. I envy the very large, white flowered variety, as well as the new 'Satomi' kousa dogwood my mother got that flowers in pink. If gardeners have had problems with the anthracnose disease hitting their Cornus florida dogwoods, a Kousa dogwood is an excellent replacement, and can even be planted in the same spot.

If you are considering a dogwood for your home, you couldn't be thinking of a more lovely tree - but do read up on the varieties. Some have a flush of fall color, some have variegated leaves, some weep, and some, as I've found, have huge, floppy flowers that make quite a show.

Dogwoods create a beautiful, vase like shape and arch outwards, and are a nice extension to spring-flowering trees such as crab apples. They are also considered a good understory tree, as they look quite pleasing when viewed from above. Ours is out in the yard, where we have a clear view of it from our deck.

One thing I have noticed about Kousa dogwoods that I would like to share is their sporadic yearly blooming. For some reason, these small trees are genetically wired to put on a display every other year ~ on their off year, the blooms are more sparse, and may not even occur at all. I recall one year both my neighbor and I were wondering what happened to our dogwood blooms, blaming the weather, the first culprit in any gardener's mind. Then I found out from a nursery-man that they were wired to really put on a show every other year.

If you are content with that, dogwoods are a very beautiful tree for your property. They do not become behemoths, their fruit is beneficial to wildlife, and their shape is truly pleasing.

Right now, I am itching for hydrangeas to bloom. It is all I can do to refrain myself to finding more spots for this beautiful shrub. I have my eye on 'Pinky Winky' but am truly pressed to justify getting yet another hydrangea. Another thing that gives me pause is how awful this plant looks in the winter - a pile of sticks, basically. It is best to tuck these away from major sightlines for this reason.

One quick tip in cutting those beautiful hydrangea blossoms I can share is to plunge the heads in cool water to elongate the bloom time.

If you don't get blooms on your hydrangeas, pruning could be a cause. Some hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so if they were pruned ~ unfortunately that will lob off your blossoms. Also, in our cold zones, the buds can freeze if they bloom on old wood, that is why the newer varieties that bloom on both old and new are very desirable.

Hart's Greenhouse and Florist has a sale on hydrangeas - buy two, get one free. Oh, so tempting....