Kousa Dogwood
Cornus kousa
A small Asian dogwood that blooms a month after our native one, white bracts atop fresh leaves, then raspberry-like red fruit, scarlet fall colour and mottled bark. It's hardier and far more resistant to anthracnose and drought than flowering dogwood. Give it acid, well-drained soil; dropped fruit can be messy.
- Mature size
- 17 × 17 ft
- 5.5 × 5.5 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- Apr–May
- Fall color Oct–Nov
Kousa Dogwood at its mature size
A mature Kousa Dogwood grows 15 to 20 feet tall and just as wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden.
Through the year
What Kousa Dogwood looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Mar
Bare layered branches, mottled exfoliating tan and brown bark.
In leaf · Apr, Jul–Aug
Glossy dark green oval leaves, no flowers.
In flower · May–Jun
Pointed star-shaped white bracts covering the top of the leafy crown.
Fruit · Sep
Round raspberry-like pinkish-red fruits hanging on long stalks among green leaves.
Fall · Oct–Nov
Reddish-purple to scarlet, fairly bright, some fruit still hanging.
Photos
Growing Kousa Dogwood
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Small space, specimen, deer resistant, and fall color
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- China
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Kousa Dogwood, that’s about 17 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Kousa Dogwood in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other dogwoods
Red Twig Dogwood
Kousa Dogwood
Pagoda Dogwood
Flowering DogwoodAll drawn to the same scale.