Cornus Kousa ‘Milky Way’

Cornus kousa 'Milky Way', otherwise known as flowering dogwood, is a rather magnificent large shrub or small tree.  It is extremely floriferous in spring with small green flowers, which are surrounded by very large pure white four petalled bracts, which give the effect of a galaxy of shimmering stars, hence the varietal name.  After flowering the tree is laden with small reddy pink strawberry like fruits, much loved by birds, and the dark Green deeply divided crinkly edged leaves flare to good shades of red and orange in the autumn.  Add this to the fine framework shape and the interesting texture and colour of the bark, and this is a tree which genuinely gives four seasons of interest. Cornus Kousa 'Milky Way' is also extremely hardy and will grown in most neutral to acidic soils which are moist but reasonably well drained, in full sun or partial shade.  Little pruning is necessary, other than removing dead or diseased branches, but it can be pruned harder if required to reduce the overall size, which is best done when dormant in late autumn through to late winter.