{"id":1757,"date":"2012-03-28T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T16:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2012-01-11T11:32:56","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T16:32:56","slug":"evergreen-kousa-dogwood-depends-on-where-you-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2012\/03\/28\/evergreen-kousa-dogwood-depends-on-where-you-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Evergreen Kousa Dogwood? – Depends on Where You Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Chinese dogwood in flower<\/p><\/div>\n

Chinese (kousa) dogwood (Cornus kousa<\/em>) is a small spring flowering dogwood. Kousa blooms about 2 – 3 weeks after our native flowering dogwood (C. florida<\/em>) has finished. Lustrous dark green\u00a0leaves begin to\u00a0emerge a week or two before the lovely pointed 3- inch white bracted flowers. Fall leaf color is purplish red and\u00a0not quite as vibrant as C. florida<\/em>. Its patchy exfoliating bark is a winter asset which gets better as the tree ages. The fleshy raspberry fruits are not a popular food source with birds and four legged critters in the fall.<\/p>\n

Evergreen kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa<\/em> var. angustata) is\u00a0 a variant also listed as Cornus angustata.<\/em> Angustata forms a shorter tree with narrow pale green evergreen foliage is reliably evergreen in USDA zones 7-b and 8, and takes-on a\u00a0purple wintry tint in zones 6-b and\u00a07-a. The tree is deciduous in zone 6-a and further north. Protection from winter winds may retain the autumn foliage\u00a0longer. Angustata mature tree height\u00a0averages 20-25% smaller than the species.<\/p>\n

Plant in part shade and in well-drained compost rich soil in southerly climes of zones 7-b and 8 and in full sun further north.\u00a0Angustata is only moderately tolerant of summer\u00a0heat and humidity and should be irrigated during periods of extreme drought.<\/p>\n

Two evergreen cultivars are:<\/p>\n