Finally, halfway decent bloom on the Milky Way dogwood!
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years ago
We planted this tree near the patio probably close to 10 years ago. The number of flowers it produces has gradually been increasing as it has got bigger, but it has been underwhelming :-) This year it is putting on a better show, so I now have more hope for future years... In the picture above, you can see that the patio is too small to be really functional as a patio - it's more of just a landing space when you come down from the back porch, and a place where paths meet - the main backyard garden access is off to the left, and you can see the access to the north alley off to the right. The clothes drying thingy also shows that this is a utilitarian area! :-) There are just too many mosquitoes in the backyard to want to dine out there or sit in the evenings, so the patio just never was useful for that purpose. The small tree in the neighbour's yard is also a C. kousa that blooms before ours. It is a beautiful brilliant white one. The flowers on ours are more of a creamy white. Some years the bloom times overlap a bit. When they do, the flowers on ours look sort of dirty compared to the pristine white ones on hers!
(You guys are probably sick of seeing pictures of my 'green' garden but I can't resist when it makes me smile to see something making a nice show for us!)
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Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Looking for Suggestions on Purchasing a Flowering Dogwood Tree
Comments (11)Read all the comments about purchase of a dogwood. Very interesting. I live in Ontario, west of Toronto, and want to plant a dogwood in my woodland garden. Native dogwood grow on my property. The area is rocky, and well drained so I know that I will need to amend the soil for moisture retention. My question is has anyone had luck with a Wolf Eye Dogwood, Cornus Kousa Chinensis"wolf eye' It was recommended to me because it has varigate leaves, larger white flowers, and fall color. When I visit the nursery I get mixed info. Some say it has been a poor performer....others just don't have it. They are few and far between. As I have been clearing trees in this forest by my house, to have a woodland garden, I dont want a large tree. This one is only suppose to grow 15' or so. Our zone is 4-5. I live in a protected spot, treed, in a valley. All info, much appreciated. Lee...See MoreStellar Dogwood Pink
Comments (22)sorry folks, i just placed a deposit on a B&B double pink weeping cheery tree. it's about 7' tall and beastly looking. i'm picking it up this monday with a friend of mine and will look to swap it in place of the dogwood later that day. today i spent a few hours digging a monsterous hole, which will receive the transplanted dogwood tree. the dogwood is full of leaves right now and putting out lots of energy, so i know it's a slightly risky transplant. but i figure it's still april and somewhat cool in this part of new jersey. so i think the tree has a good shot at establishing decent roots in its new hole prior to the hot summer temps getting here. wish me luck:)...See Morevenus dogwood and new hamshire dogwood
Comments (11)Hi, we need two trees replaced and I'm very interested in the Venus, esp since I'm a bit north, I had 2 nurseries, one 5 mins from me (don't stock bc its Zone 6) and one 20 mins from me (its zone 5 according to them and they have one) give me conflicting Zone hardiness. I'm a bit wary now because I can't seem to find enough info with anyone growing them up here in Southwestern Ontario. Theres a C. Kousa Chinensis that is absolutely gorgeous here at half the price and I'm actually tempted to get it BUT if the Venus Blooms rivals that AND is really more Zone hardy then the choice is made. Anyone growing the Venus in Zone 5 or lower?...See MoreRutgers Dogwood/Azaleas for corner lot feature - Venus a good one?
Comments (16)Yeah, well down south I would try any of the kousa X florida hybrids, which IIRC was actually the parentage of most of the Rutgers hybrids. Big digression but interesting: The problem is even 25% C. nutallii might still cause problems much south of Northern New Jersey. For years even 'Eddie's White Wonder' was considered ungroweable on the east coast. (It is C. nutallii X C. florida) Well, imagine my surprise at seeing a labeled C. nutallii at Plant Fields Arboretum on Long Island! LI doesn't have particularly hot summers, but they are nowhere near as crisp and cool as those in the PNW. So it's a bit of a mystery. It could be that recent (past 25 years) PNW grown 'Eddie's White Wonder' trees were never doing well on the east coast because in fact they were PNW grafted onto C. nutallii; and the LI C. nutallii was either own-rooted or even better grafted onto C. kousa or C. florida by either a clever or lucky nurseryman. This narrative also nicely explains ALJ mentioning that "EWW" was once sold (mid-20th century) by a Tennessee nursery! They'd obviously have never been able to produce them by using C. nutallii rootstock; and grafting would have been a more common production means back then anyhow. So perhaps "EWW" and even 'Venus' would be better off grafted onto either C. florida, C. florida X C. kousa, or even just C.kousa. In other words, anything w/o C. nutallii. I've found with Rhodies that root rot sensitivity can be a dominant, not recessive trait. Even 1/16th R. wardii can spell doom for 'Capistrano' (Crapistrano according to the late, great Hank Schannen!) on the east coast south of Maine. So without further testing of various cultivars, knowing exactly how they were produced - for me at least the jury is still out....See MoreUser
8 years agogreen_go (Canada, Ontario, z 5a)
8 years agowoodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years agogreen_go (Canada, Ontario, z 5a)
8 years agorouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
8 years agowoodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years ago
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