While two variegated leaf Kousa dogwoods (Cornus kousa ‘Samaritan’ and ‘Wolf Eyes’) have no flowers this year, two green leafed Kousas fully display their floral splendor (below). Two young Kousa varieties, the columar ‘Snow Tower’ and pendulous ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’, have scattered blooms, with both growing with a vigor encouraging me that they will mature before I grow too old to manage the garden.

Despite the failure of the two variegated dogwoods to flower (and flowers hardly show against the white-margined leaves), this has been an exceptional spring for flowering of all the dogwoods. I expect more flowers on ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’ and ‘Snow Tower’ next spring as they continue to grow.

Two hybrid ‘Venus’ dogwoods (below) flowered on schedule this year while other dogwoods were a week early. In the side garden, ‘Venus’ typically flowers alongside ‘Celestial Shadow’, but the overlap was shorter and today, along with faded flowers the variegation of the foliage of ‘Celestial Shadow’ (below) has begun to fade after an unusual spell of late spring heat.

The ‘Golden Shadows’ Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia ‘Golden Shadows’, below) was barely a foot tall when I planted it several years ago. Apparently, this one is ideally placed, while I suspect a green leafed Pagoda nearby is somewhat stunted in deeper shade and damp soil. I recall questioning the placement of the yellow variegated ‘Golden Shadows’ beside a green and white variegated ‘Silver Edge’ rhododendron, but my eye does not see a conflict.

It is possible that I’ll prune a few branches of the ‘Trompenburg’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Trompenburg’) that overhang ‘Golden Shadows’, though more likely that the yellow and red leaves will intermingle. I expect this will be a favorite view from the sunroom with another year of growth.