This selection may look the same as the species, but wait until it’s bloom time. When ‘Milky Way’s’ flowers begin to open in mid-June, this selection looks like a dogwood on steroids with an array of white bloom that lights up like the stars on a crystal clear night. Laden with a massive show of bright red fruit, ‘Milky Way’ becomes a beacon in the fall landscape along with the help of a scintillating purple-red fall foliage display.

‘Heart Throb’ will find a place near and dear to your heart once you experience its incredible, long lasting bloom. Like all kousa Dogwoods, ‘Heart Throb’ has a landscape pleasing, rounded shape with deep green, trouble free foliage. What other kousa varieties don’t have is the flower show of ‘Heart Throb’. Flower buds unfurl in June to reveal big, rose-pink bracts that form a ‘flower’ that can be up to 4″ in diameter. This huge bloom is set off by the deep green foliage and can last 4 to 6 weeks depending on the weather. It’s an unforgettable show, but ‘Heart Throb’ is not finished showing off once the bloom is gone. Fall sees bird-attracting, large red fruit that contrasts well with the deep, purplish-red fall foliage color that sets this small tree alight. You won’t find a better small specimen tree anywhere or one with more year round beauty!

Cornus kousa ‘Eva’ has a compact, upright habit and elegant green / white variegated leaves which turn shades of red and pink before falling in autumn. White flowers appear on the branches in summer. Cornus kousa ‘Eva’ is an unusual, medium sized garden shrub which can also be grown in a large container.

An excellent plant that holds up better than Cornus florida, its bloom time occurs late May into June, a time the landscape could use some flowering punch! Blooms are long lasting, followed by large red fruit that attracts birds. Showy, reddish-purple fall foliage, good disease and insect resistance.

Outstanding bract color is the calling card for this small tree flower buds open in early May to reveal big, deep red bracts that surround small flowers and put on a magnificent show. Red fall berries and fall foliage add to the show! Perfect specimen for smaller to medium yards. Outstanding bloom color. New foliage emerges red and turns red in fall. Red berries attract native songbirds.

Flowering dogwood has spreading horizontal branches and distinctive white flowers in spring. The 3″ diameter flower clusters bloom mid-April to mid-May, attracting a number of butterflies and other pollinators. ‘Cloud 9’ flowers profusely and has extra showy, overlapping white bracts. Clusters of glossy red fruit mature in fall and persist into winter when they are eaten by birds. The leaves turn scarlet red in fall.

Vigorous growth habit produces deep red blooms, large red berries and an exceptional burgundy-red fall color. Season-long deep green foliage color makes this an excellent four-season dogwood. Very resistant to powdery mildew.

One of the scourges of our native landscape has been the disease Anthracnose that has taken a toll on one our region’s signature plants, the Flowering Dogwood. With ‘Appalachian Spring’, a great selection that is resistant to Anthracnose, you’ll still be able to enjoy the year long beauty of our native Dogwood without the disease concerns. Just like the species, ‘Appalachian Spring’ loads up with masses of large, creamy white bracted bloom starting in late April and continuing into mid May for a show that is a real stunner. With its medium green foliage combined with its low, layered branching habit, this selection retains a regal look in the landscape that turns to riveting once its foliage turns its brilliant purplish red as the cool of winter approaches. And don’t forget its immense supply of brilliant red berries that cover the plant in late summer and fall and are a favorite food for loads of native songbirds. Plant ‘Appalachian Spring’ in partial sun along woodlines for best results and longest landscape life.

There is nothing like a Dogwood in bloom to tell you spring is here. ‘Cherokee Princess’ enhances that feeling by producing huge white bracts that are far larger and showier than the species and producing them far earlier in the life of the tree as compared to the species. Like its close relative, ‘Cherokee Princess’ forms a flattened, spreading, globular canopy at maturity with large, deep green leaves that turn a spectacular purplish-red in fall. It also produces the same small, red, berry-like fruit that will see your yard become the most popular stop in the neighborhood for songbirds. Plant ‘Cherokee Princess’ in partial sun (morning sun is best) along the edge of wooded areas.

Hundreds of varieties of Dogwood are available out on the market but few match the simple majesty of the original species. With its globular, spreading canopy and its late April to early May show of pure white bracts, its beauty and essential nature to the eastern landscape is unquestioned. Like all things so beautiful, we have tended to plant it in wrong locations where stress and resulting disease have rendered it less popular than many of the new varieties. White Dogwood will still be an unmatched specimen in a morning sun, afternoon shade spot or along a woodline as hot, beating, full sun takes its toll on this selection that birds love as much as we do with it nesting cover and red fall fruit that is a bird delicacy. The red fruit against the purple fall foliage is a show only slightly less majestic than its spring bloom.