by Leslie Renjilian
The Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) blooms later than the native flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), which means that it's blooming just as many Chautauquans are returning to the grounds, a lovely welcome.
You can find a nice grouping at the Sculpture Garden behind Strohl Art Gallery and in the Braham Garden on the north side of the Post Office Building. But right now, the one worth a little walk to see is blooming in the Arboretum. It's a weeping cultivar called "Weaver's Weeping" and this year the little shoulder-height tree is loaded with blooms (photo below).
The fruits on the Kousa dogwoods are small and green now, but by late summer they will ripen to a stunning pinkish-red and will persist late into the Fall...if they don't get eaten by birds or animals. Humans can eat them too, and they have a nice tropical taste, but some find the fruit slimy or mealy and say it's best in a smoothie. Whatever your thoughts are on the mouthfeel, there is no doubt that the brilliant red fruits make for a spectacular landscape feature - they look like big raspberries dangling from long pendulous stalks.
The Kousa dogwood is generally more cold tolerant than the native variety. Introduced from Asia in 1875, the Kousa now has over 100 cultivars - this tree went platinum!
Other names: Chinese, Korean, or Japanese Dogwood.
* If you are considering this tree for your own garden, please remember the 80:20 rule and strive for 80% of your plantings to be native plants. Also please note that the Kousa is now considered invasive in New Jersey so may soon be added to the Naughty List everywhere.
The point of this column is to answer the questions most asked of the Garden Team about what's blooming now in Chautauqua and the Kousas are certainly the show-stopper this week.
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