Cornus kousa Wietings Select - Flowering Dogwood

Cornus kousa 'Wieting's Select' is a variety of Japanese dogwood that stands out for its widely conical habit, pinkish-white flowering and flamboyant autumn foliage colour. It forms a small 3 m (9 ft 10 in) tall tree with erect and fine branches, particularly graceful against the low winter light. From May to June, it bears numerous tiny green ball-shaped flowers, surrounded by spectacular rounded oval bracts, slightly pinkish white with a pronounced carmine pink edge. Small bright red edible fruits, resembling strawberries, follow in August. Its wavy-edged foliage turns bright orange-red with the arrival of the first cold before falling in winter. This variety is enhanced by planting in partial shade, isolated around the house or on a large terrace, from where it can be admired in all seasons! Robust and hardy, this bush only dislikes drought and likes moist, well-drained, fertile and not too chalky soils.

Cornus kousa is a small tree or a large shrub, native to Japan, China and Korea. Its sculptural silhouette, supported by layered and horizontal branches, gives it a very Japanese look. Resulting from many years of research and intense selection and hybridization work, the variety 'Wieting's Select' is appreciated for its pinkish-white flowering and bright orange-red autumn foliage. This cultivar develops a compact habit, wider and more conical than others, reaching 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height and width after many years.

'Wieting's Select' blooms in May-June, on plants from 3 to 4 years old. The shrub is adorned with a multitude of 'flowers', which are actually inflorescences, measuring about 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9 in) in diameter. These are clusters of small true, green flowers surrounded by 4 fairly rounded bracts forming a star, with a pinkish-white colour and a pronounced dark pink edge. They are arranged on the tree as if they were placed on the foliage. The flowers are followed by 2.5 cm (1 in) diameter fruits, pink to carmine red, resembling strawberries. The higher the summer temperatures, the more abundant the fruiting. The fruits are edible, fleshy, and sweet-tasting but not very tasty, however they enhance the charm of this large shrub at the end of the season. 'Wieting's Select' has medium green leaves that turn bright orange-red in autumn. The leaves of Cornus kousa are ovate, strongly veined, slightly closed, quite wavy on the edges and pendulous. They measure between 5 and 8 cm (2 and 3.1 in) long and are opposite each other along the branches.

Cornus kousa 'Wieting's Select' thrives in continental climates, with marked summers and winters, but also performs very well in milder areas. In hot regions, it must be protected from the scorching sun. This Japanese dogwood is still rare in gardens but nevertheless very easy to grow as long as it has been thoughtfully planted. It is beautiful alone and deserves to be planted in isolation, standing out in the middle of a lawn for example. It will also work well at the back of an ericaceous bed composed of plants or shrubs with staggered flowering or evergreen foliage. Choose for example to accompany it with oakleaf or paniculate hydrangeas, Japanese maples with purple foliage, snowberries, a Cercis, a Fothergilla or a Tetradium daniellii, the honey tree.