Clouds of white blossoms appear after the leaves in early summer, several weeks after Florida dogwoods have bloomed. The star-shaped "flowers" are formed by four pointed bracts surrounding the inconspicuous, button-like true flower clusters. Blossoms last as long as six weeks during a time when relatively few garden plants are in bloom.
Edible red fruits form in late summer and persist through the fall. They dangle like oversized raspberries beneath the horizontally arching branches, attracting the attention of birds as well as gardeners. An added bonus is a reddish fall color that ranges to reddish purple and scarlet depending on climatic conditions. Winter reveals a very attractive mottled tan and gray exfoliating bark and a distinctive horizontal branching pattern.
Chinese Kousa Dogwood grows in a widely vase-shaped to rounded form, reaching a mature height and spread of approximately 20 x 20 feet. It is rated hardy to USDA Zone 5 and rarely suffers frost damage to flower buds as is sometimes the case with earlier flowering dogwood cultivars.
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Milky Way Select Dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Milky Way Select’) is an outstanding selection of Chinese Kousa Dogwood. This cultivar is notable for rich, dark green foliage and a prolific crop of white flowers that are borne in June. Composed of four creamy white bracts, they are followed in late summer by bright orange red fruits. These complement the deep red and orange to scarlet fall foliage and remain well after leaf drop to provide an extra display of seasonal color. |
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