If you’ve decided after reading last week’s column that the flowering dogwood is indeed your “desert island” tree of choice the next step is deciding which type to plant.  As with most offerings in the horticulture trade there is no shortage of species and cultivars to choose from and so this week we’ll look at what’s out there.

There are two species of flowering dogwood which produce the “ooohs” and “aaahs” in May and June in neighbourhoods throughout the Okanagan, and presumably on your desert island.  Cornus florida, as I mentioned last week, is native to northeastern North America, down into Texas and northern Mexico.  In warmer southern climates it is blooming right now, but in our valley full bloom happens in mid-May.

Cornus florida is distinguished by its large bracts surrounding the small true flowers located in the centre of those bracts, similar to the poinsettia’s bloom structure.  These bracts are rounded, with a notch at the end.

Growth habit is low and spreading, with mature trees often wider than higher after many years but generally reaching up to 20 feet high and wide.  Bark is a soft grey, with newer stems having an attractive purple hue to them.  Fall colour is usually an excellent reddish purple.  There are small clusters of red fruits which ripen in the fall; birds will devour them quickly.

Cultivars are numerous but you can’t go wrong with ‘Cherokee Brave’ for a vigorously growing, pink flowering variety.  ‘Cherokee Princess’ offers similar attributes with large white bracts and heavy flowering every year.
The second species is Cornus kousa (koo’sa) and it varies from its cousin in several ways.  It blooms about three to four weeks later, putting it in full flower in mid-June.  The bracts are smaller and pointed; a mature tree in bloom looks like it’s covered with hundreds of stars.

Cornus kousa is vase-shaped as a young specimen, becoming more rounded with age.  The branching structure is strongly horizontal, one of its most outstanding attributes.  The bark becomes mottled with age, with colours of tan, grey and brown.  Berries are larger, resembling a raspberry and fall foliage colour is a lovely deep scarlet.

Equally breathtaking when in bloom, the Kousa dogwood is notable in that it is more adaptable to our climate and soils than the Cornus florida.  It has more disease resistance to the dogwood anthracnose which can plague poorly-grown specimens of the Cornus florida.  Still, the gardener must be just as obsessive when it comes to caring for this species, and the same instructions apply for site selection and planting if you want to be successful.

Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’ is the pink flowering cultivar of choice.  It’s bracts are a greenish-white upon opening, turning to a warm pinky-rose over time.  ‘Milky Way’ is a very good white variety, with heavy bloom production on a vigorous plant.

Thirty years ago a breeding program at Rutgers University crossed both of these species together, looking for more vigour and better flowering.  The results are the Stellar hybrids.  ‘Stellar Pink,’ ‘Aurora’ and ‘Constellation’ are three dogwoods which offer good combinations of the strong growth of the Cornus kousa and larger blooms of the Cornus florida.

Is the flowering dogwood a good choice for your landscape?  Only you can decide, but if you decide against it do try to get out and enjoy the lovely specimens in your community one warm night next month.