ABC Wednesday - K
Kousa Dogwood
Cornus kousa ‘Ed Mezitt’
Oriental or Japanese Dogwood is one of my favorite trees. Not only is it beautiful it has almost none of the cultural problems associated with our native Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. There are many cultivars of Kousa each with it special attributes but all have wonderful flowers, unusual fruit, exfoliating bark and good fall color. There seems to a little confusion on some of the cultivars as they maybe from the same gene pool.
This particular cultivar, ‘Ed Mezitt’, is named after the founder of Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass. The flowers are a little bigger than the species and the new growth emerges with a purplish tinge to it. It is a stately tree that grows with a beautiful shape. I have had one in the Estate’s Kousa collection since 1995 and it was fairly large to begin with. Pink Kousa Dogwood was the very first flower picture featured on Digital Flower Pictures.com.
The fruit of the Kousa Dogwood is a show onto itself. It is edible but I find it both the taste and texture to be unpalatable. The birds seem to relish it and by the end of fall it is usually all gone. Here is a picture that I took last fall of some Kousa berries .
This plant is a garden type of a native flowering shrub called Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Banded Mountain Laurel is quite a treat to have in the garden. It is fairly easy to grow if it is sited right. I think a lot of people give Mountain Laurel too much shade and are disappointed by the results. It can take several hours of strong light, especially the cultivars.
Here is the ABC Wednesday Blogroll. The participation in ABC has grown so much that I am sure I don’t have everyone. If you want to get on this Blogroll please leave a comment and I will add you. For a more complete list of ABC blogs head over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s Place, which is the first link.
Here is the ABC Blogroll:
mrs nesbitts place
a bit of this a dash of that
Little Rock Daily Photo
strolling through Georgia
kate isis
photography by kml
AVCR8TEUR'S Blog
Salty Dogs
The Modern Goddess
Simply Sage
author blog
kai
Mollitudes
ten forty
Neva
Ackworth born, gone West
katch photo
Mr. Mapper
The Max Files
Watch me, No Watch me
Peter Miller
Lynette
Andrea’s Thought of the Day
Photowannabe
RuneE’s Visual Norway
Happy One
Azure
HPY
cre8tiva
Lilli and Nevada
Bonnie
Outhouse of Canada
imac
Digital Shutter Mania
Dirty Knees
Dragonstar
Veg Plotting
Erin
Gordon
GAWO
arne’s blog
kostas
petunia
postcards from paulie
kim
LanaG!
Ida
Miss Yves
Siani
ellen b
Kuanyin
pernille
JoAnn's-Digital-Eye NL
katney
flassies fila
BumbleV
Creating a Likeness
25 comments:
Great pictures and a great blog. We are online florists in the UK and would like to get on your BlogRoll. The URL for our blog is http://www.arenaflowers.com/blog. Please email me on adarsh@arenaflowers.com
Many thanks
The post was very interesting and the photos were as usual great. However, I would suggest that you just delete that comment from the florist in UK who wants to enter the Blog-roll - which in any case stated with Mrs. Nesbitt.
Wonderful flowers!
Florist eh?
Hmmmmmm! They get in everywhere.
How very beautiful. I love all the history to go with it. The Dogwood bloom is one of my favorites. Beautiful photographs...
As some who also loves to take flower photo's but with less technical skill than you, I say "lovely flower as always!".
Dogwoods are one of my favorite flowering trees. I have one right by my front door, but the flowers of yours are so interesting. Beautiful shots.
WOW, they are all beautiful. Great shots.
Beautiful photos! The dogwood is BC's provincial flower.
Great K-post,and the pictures are beautiful:o)
great shot! and great post!
happy ww!
Those are all great pictures - but I really love that last one - very pretty!
Happy WW :-)
Very interesting post, and great pictures.
Wonderful photos but my favorite is the last one --probably because of the colors and shape of the plant.
fabulous pictures and information
Second shot is amzaing!!
I have a water color of a dogwood above my bed that's how much I love them and sakura and and and ..
BEAUTIFUL!
Oh, to be able to take photo's like this!
I love your choice for today....I can't believe you found so many plants that fit the 'k'.
I used a wild-growing type of dogwood for D. Your flower photos are exquisite.
Absolutely gorgeous. I feel I could just reach out and touch the velvet petals.
I love the shape of that dogwood, so pretty. Thanks for sharing all of your K flowers :)
I love the kousa dogwood too. It not not be as showy as the cornus florida variety but it is so elegant and refined.
I have never seen such a fruit before. I'm curious how it tastes. Perhaps it's unpalatable because you have to peel the skin?
The mountain laurel are so pretty - we have all white ones in our area.
I would never have guessed that fruit to be edible. Glad the birds enjoy it though!
Lovely Kousa Dogwood photo, Chris. I have 3 and especially appreciate the blooming time.
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