Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Kousa Dogwood

Brand:  J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.

Description:

A lovely wide vase to rounded dogwood with emerging green leaves that turn bright yellow in mid-summer sun; covered in white blooms for several weeks in late spring, followed by berries and orange-red fall color; vigorous and tolerant of most soils

Ornamental Features

Champion's Gold™ Chinese Dogwood features showy clusters of creamy white flowers with white bracts held atop the branches from late spring to early summer. It has gold-variegated green foliage with hints of yellow. The glossy pointy leaves turn outstanding shades of orange and red in the fall. The peeling gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Champion's Gold™ Chinese Dogwood is a multi-stemmed deciduous tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. 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.

Champion's Gold™ Chinese Dogwood is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Champion's Gold™ Chinese Dogwood will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 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.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.