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what are the different types of dogwood trees, check these out | What is the difference between a dogwood and a Kousa Dogwood?

By Jessica Wood

Let’s look at the four different types of dogwood trees best suited to cultivated landscapes.
Flowering Dogwood. Of all the varieties of dogwood, gardeners are most familiar with the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). Kousa Dogwood. Pacific Dogwood. Cornelian Cherry Dogwood.

What is the difference between a dogwood and a Kousa Dogwood?

The main difference in flowering between Kousa dogwood and our native flowering dogwood is timing. Kousa dogwood’s blossoms unfold two to three weeks after those of flowering dogwood, during that period of calm that follows the springtime burst of bloom from many trees and shrubs.

Which dogwood tree is best?

If you like the varieties of dogwood that boast red flowers, the Cherokee Brave is one of the best options available to you. Their flowers are actually a deep pink with a white center and they are one of the smaller varieties of dogwood, growing to about 15 feet at their maximum height.

How do I know what type of dogwood tree I have?

You can identify a dogwood by looking for smooth-edged leaves with veins that curve parallel to the margins (edges). Flowers may or may not feature large bracts like those of the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). After pollination, they produce a type of fruit known as a drupe.

Is there a difference between a dogwood tree and a dogwood bush?

They grow fast and provide year-round garden interest with spring flowers, summer berries, and exceptional fall color. However, shrubby dogwoods do not grow the showy bracts that the taller dogwood trees do. Their flowers also appear after the foliage has fully grown in.

What does a kousa dogwood tree look like?

Features dark green leaves that are 2–4″ long and elliptic-ovate in shape. Has a beautiful form with horizontal branching. Grows in a rounded shape. Requires mulch around the trunk to protect it from lawnmower or weed cutter damage that could cause poor health.

What is a Venus dogwood?

Venus® Dogwood

A spectacular, fast-growing hybrid with exceptionally large, white, flower-like bracts. Attractive red ornamental fruit appears in fall. The glossy green foliage has wonderful red fall color.

Which is the prettiest dogwood?

The variegated dogwood is one of the finest foliage shrubs with floating horizontal branches and delicate green and white leaves. Lacy, white flowers in early summer.

What is the hardiest dogwood tree?

The pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) is native to much of eastern North America and grows in USDA zones 3 to 7, making it the most cold hardy dogwood tree.

What is the hardiest dogwood?

One of the prettiest hardy flowering dogwood trees is native to eastern North America.

Types of Zone 4 Dogwood Trees
Pink Princess – 20 feet (6 m.) Kousa – 20 feet (6 m.) Cornelian cherry – 20 feet (6 m.) Northern Swamp dogwood – 15 feet (4.5 m.)

Is there a dwarf pink dogwood tree?

The variety Red Pygmy® is a rare dwarf red flowering dogwood that is ideal for use in a small garden space. Red Pygmy® may be used in Japanese-style gardens, as a specimen plant, or used in grouping with other dwarfs of comparable size and shape.

What is the best time of year to plant a dogwood tree?

The best time to plant white dogwoods is in the spring, when the soil is moist and before the tree growth begins. Choose a planting site that receives dappled shade. Pull any weeds and clear away any debris and turfgrass. Dig a hole that is roughly ⅔ the depth of the root ball.

How do I identify a dogwood tree in the winter?

Look to see whether the tree is a conifer or a deciduous broadleaf. The latter has thin, flat leaves, as opposed to needles or tight, scaly leaves. The dogwood is a deciduous broadleaf tree, which means that it loses its leaves during the winter. Examine the stems that the leaves are attached to.

Are there male and female dogwood trees?

ANSWER: North American dogwoods, Cornus species, are all hermaphroditic with both male (stamens and anthers) and female (stigma, style and ovary) flower parts. The female parts (ovaries) produce the berries but since all the Cornus species in North America are hermaphroditic, they will all have berries.

Where do dogwood trees grow best?

Choose a site for your dogwoods that is well-drained but does not get extremely dry. Soil high in organic matter is best. Dogwoods can be planted in full sun or partial shade, though partial shade is best (morning sun in particular). Dogwoods are typically an understory tree in the wild.

What does dogwood look like in summer?

Flowering Dogwood trees (Cornus florida and Cornus kousa) have large flower bracts in late spring to early summer that come in shades of white to rich pink.

Where do Kousa dogwoods grow?

Trees with shallow root systems benefit from a few inches of mulch to moderate the soil temperature. The kousa is one of these shallow-rooted trees. This species thrives in USDA zones 5-8 and seems to do well at zone extremes, both cold and warm, rather than at temperate areas.

Is kousa dogwood evergreen?

Evergreen kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa var. 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 purple wintry tint in zones 6-b and 7-a. The tree is deciduous in zone 6-a and further north.

Do Kousa dogwoods smell?

Like a small child, Dogwoods may not adjust well to variances in water and nutrient matter. Also like a small child, Dogwoods can be a bit smelly, offering a strong, though not altogether unpleasant, fragrance.