PLANT FINDER
Summer Fun Chinese Dogwood
Cornus kousa 'Summer Fun'
Height: 20 feet
Spread: 15 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4b
Other Names: Kousa Dogwood
Description:
A lovely upright dogwood with rich, contrasting green and white leaves, turning shades of red and pink in fall; covered in gorgeous white blooms in late spring; vigorous and tolerant of most soils except very wet or dry
Ornamental Features
Summer Fun Chinese Dogwood features showy clusters of creamy white flowers with white bracts held atop the branches from late spring to early summer. It has green foliage edged in creamy white. The pointy leaves turn an outstanding scarlet in the fall. The peeling gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.
Landscape Attributes
Summer Fun Chinese Dogwood is a multi-stemmed deciduous tree with a stunning habit of growth which features almost oriental horizontally-tiered branches. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Summer Fun Chinese Dogwood is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- General Garden Use
Planting & Growing
Summer Fun Chinese Dogwood will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.
This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
