Cornus Kousa Wietings Select Chinese Dogwood

Cornus Kousa Wietings Select is a deciduous Chinese dogwood selection with showy creamy-white flower bracts that fade to pale pink. It’s a beautiful ornamental tree for compact gardens and mixed informal borders that get plenty of sun.

Cornus Kousa is native to China, Japan and Korea. It’s a large genus of flowering trees and creeping shrubs with stunning flower bracts and good autumn foliage colour.

The cultivar Wietings Select is a fairly new introduction. It has a stunning abundance of creamy white flower bracts in spring that fade to pale pink as they age. Held in the bracts’ centre is a small green flower that matures into a red strawberry-like fruit in autumn, hence the common name ‘Szechuan strawberry’. The fruit is edible and loved by birds.

As the colder weather approaches, Weitings Select’s green oval foliage turns into a red blaze to rival the best acers before falling for winter.

This is a compact ornamental tree that’s perfect for small gardens. It gives stunning colour and height on a well-branched form that can be trained as a large shrub or tree.

Height And Spread of Cornus Kousa Wietings Select
This is a compact Chinese dogwood that reaches three metres by three metres over 10-20 years.

How Hardy Is Cornus Kousa Wietings Select
With well-drained roots, full sun and a sheltered spot this is a hardy dogwood that withstands the UK’s wet and cold winters. Pests are rarely a problem.

How To Use Cornus Kousa Wietings Select
Chinese Dogwood Wietings Select is a good choice for urban courtyards and mixed informal borders. It has an upright well-branching habit and a smothering of white-pink flowers through late spring and summer. It suits low-maintenance wildlife spaces and ornamental tree selections.

How To Care For Cornus Kousa Wietings Select
Plant it in full sun or light shade with shelter from cold winds for the best flower display and long-lasting autumnal foliage. Wietings Select prefers acidic or neutral soil and may become chlorotic in alkaline areas.
Pruning isn’t required, but damaged or crossed branches can be removed in spring. Apply a thick layer of acidic mulch in early spring and water it well until you can see new growth. Once dogwoods are established, they need little care.