SmokeShow™ Kousa Dogwood

The First Purple-Leafed Kousa Dogwood - Available Only at Nature Hills!

A beautiful selection of Cornus Kousa selected in Tennessee from a seedling, the SmokeShow™ Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa 'HGFI65jd') is a unique form of the traditional Kousa Dogwood! The true flowers are small button-like greenish-yellow true flowers that attract bees and other pollinators, but the real show comes from the long-lasting, four-pointed showy bracts that surround the flower and last for weeks even in warm weather in late spring.

The crisp, clean elongated pointed leaves emerge with an incredible rosy-smoky-purple color that intensifies and remains beautifully colorful into September. As the foliage ages, SmokeShow™ transforms to a shiny green color that may exhibit some rosy fall color in some areas of the country. The creamy white flower bracts have white veins and smokey pink/purple mist, and eventually develop into pink-red raspberry-like fruits later in summer and persist into fall. Although edible, they are probably savored more by the birds than us, but some people make jellies, jams, and wine from them.

Hardy throughout USDA growing zones 5 through 8, this deciduous ornamental flowering tree can grow to 18 - 25 feet in height and spread to 15 - 20 feet wide at maturity. Interesting slightly exfoliating bark is gray and older bark has more brown, an interesting attribute during the winter months.

Planting and Application:

SmokeShow™ can be used as a single-to-mulit-stem specimen or focal point or as a small ornamental tree. Anchor and shade garden beds and borders or fill an unused corner of your yard in beauty! Park a garden bench or reading chair beneath the spreading canopy to create your new favorite garden nook! The unique color really shows off in mixed shrub borders, as prominent accents, and pretty backdrops!

Kousa Dogwood trees can also be grown as a larger shrub-form plant which makes it perfect for screening, as hedges and property definition, or used as a backdrop in a mixed border! SmokeShow™ Kousa Dogwood can be grown as a shrub form, low-branched plant to show off the great color, flowers, and fruit bringing them closer to the ground - but they can easily be trained as a single stem, small ornamental tree offering great diversity in the landscape. Birds adore the branching for nesting and shelter, as well as the fruit that forms in fall!

• Greenish-Yellow True Flowers
• Creamy White Star-Shaped Bracts With Smokey Purple/Pink Mist
• Long-Lasting Bracts - Attract Pollinators
• Rounded Spreading Canopy - Tree or Shrub With Pruning
• Rosy Smoky-Purple New Foliage & Rosy Fall Color
• Specimen, Accents, Small Shade & Hedges

#ProPlantTips for Care:

This low-maintenance, rare purple-leafed Kousa selection exhibits improved disease resistance when mulched and watered during dry spells to keep them stress-free. Plant in full sun in cooler climates, and it will appreciate afternoon shade in the warmer hardiness zones. Water regularly to establish, and add additional water during heat and drought. Kousa prefers slightly acidic soils that are moist, yet well-drained. Not the fastest-growing, that just means little pruning is needed to keep them neat and tidy. However, if you do Prune, do so when the tree is dormant in late fall or early winter to thin the crown a bit.

• Full Sun & Afternoon Shade/Part Shade
• Moist Rich Well-Drained Soil
• Appreciates Mulch
• Prune Late Winter or Early Spring
• Improved Disease Resistance

The SmokeShow™ Kousa Dogwood has vibrant spring purple leaves, showy, long-lasting blooms & pinkish-red fruit in fall! It is a rare beauty that you can only get from Nature Hills! Be the first on your block to show off this unique purple-leafed Dogwood tree or shrub!