I sent you an email. I am interested also in trading for the Kousa Dogwood seedlings. Please let me know if you got the email. Thanks

I've got a kousa that is now about 10 years old, and has NEVER bloomed. I've had some serious talks to it, begged, pleaded, threatened. Last year I beat it with a stick, hoping it would trigger some survival instinct and bloom. Its nice a green now, and no signs of buds, once again. Very disappointing, but a beautiful tree, about 10' high and 15' across, spreading nicely. Someone told me it needed another kousa nearby, but how would it know? If they come in male and female, its definitely female because its so obstinate.

Anthracnose is not actually so much a specific disease as it is a catch-all term for a variety of foliar pathogens Not sure I'd agree with that comment......nor would a whole bunch of plant pathologists, either :)) Dogwood anthracnose IS a specific disease - a fungal pathogen known as Discula destructiva. However, there are a lot of fungal issues that can affect dogwoods that are not as serious as anthracnose, including any number of leaf spots (ie. leaf spot anthracnose), as well as the aforementioned issues with weather or even wind damage. Since dogwood anthracnose is carried from year to year on both bark and stems as well as leaves and eventually becomes systemic to the plant, just cleaning up and/or composting leaves is not going to have much effect. Having said all that, those leaves do not look to me like anthracnose. And using a fungicide now will not alleviate the situation regardless. MFIX, arrange some sort of shade to protect your new tree on at least a temporary basis for this summer. A part shade location is really ideal but it will eventually tolerate the full sun. Be prepared to experience some early coloration of the foliage on an ongoing basis if this is the case. Light, creamy colored foliage can redden in full sun pretty easily.

These are monsoon climate trees and must have moist roots in summer. Flagging and rolling of Kousa dogwood (and also Eastern dogwood) is very common in my dry summer climate. I've got a 'Big Apple' in the back yard that is a chronic problem child, currently repeated sprinklings have resulted in it making new growth at the same time that the mature foliage is droopy! This is not desirable as the added burden of the tender new foliage makes the plant even more vulnerable to being damaged (burned or even killed) by drought. When watering trees and shrubs during dry periods you want to put on enough to maintain them but not enough to promote flushes of tender new growth - unless you can then depend on keeping these adequately supplied with water from that point on. Where there is a problem giving the plant as much water as it seems to want at that time just to maintain its mature growth in good condition, it is better if there isn't new growth present as well. Both are woodland trees (from humid climates) so it may also be possible that hot sun beating on the foliage or roots, or low humidity causes them to roll their leaves even when watering appears to be adequate. When I was a student at Washington State University, located in the semiarid climate of southeast WA I noticed that the only Eastern dogwood on the campus was in an enclosed area, planted in a an island surrounded by a pool.