Flowering tree season is quickly approaching and we have already been graced with the beauty of the Magnolias.  Quick on their heels are the Pacific Dogwoods (Cornus nuttallii).  It happens to be one of my favorite trees, but not one that I would elect to plant in my own garden.  There is something so majestic about at 50′ flowering tree, but the thought of it getting anthracnose would break my heart.

There are so many other people out there that are in love with the Dogwood.  I would have to say that in all of my years working in retail nurseries the “pink flowering dogwood” is the best seller.

Some time around the end of March customers would start coming in asking for this very specific tree.  The actual name is Cornus florida and more specifically they were looking for Cherokee Brave, Cherokee Chief or Cherokee Sunset.  Those were the most common in the nurseries.

The flowering Dogwood is a lovely tree.  It grows to about 25 feet tall, flowers in late April to early May, fairly easy to care for and has vibrant fall foliage.  It is, for all intents and purposes, the perfect tree… on the surface.  However, like it’s northwest native cousin Cornus florida is susceptible to anthracnose.  An awful canker that kills the trees.

Despite this death sentence we still sold out of the trees.  The nursery owners (and later me as a buyer) would bring in 40-50 dogwoods and sell out of them in a matter of days.  They sold for $40+.  Today they sell for much more and nurseries still sell out.  Like a fuchsia basket everyone wants to buy one for mom.  On Mother’s Day weekend I would take no less than 20 calls from people, “do you have any pink dogwoods?”  They were all met with the same response, “sorry, we sold out in April.”

Luckily, I was able to convince a few people (ok, maybe more than a few) that Cornus florida wasn’t the tree for them.  I had a better solution.  Don’t be like Dick and Jane next door.  Be an individual and buy a dogwood that would stun your neighbors.  Cornus kousa was a much better choice.

Like Cornus florida, Cornus kousa comes in a pink flowering variety.  The difference is that it blooms after it has leafed out in late May to early June.  When most trees are now big and green the Korean Dogwood (also known as Japanese Dogwood) puts on a show and is center stage.  What’s more, the Korean Dogwood is disease resistant.  The other features that make Cornus kousa the better choice is that it has a more upright habit rather than the sprawl of the florida and it produces large red fruit that are edible (and quite sweet and tasty).

Some people have their heart set on the old fashioned Cornus florida.  I applaud you for your stick-to-it-ness.  However, next time you are digging out a dead dogwood consider and Cornus Kousa.  You’ll thank me for it.