Cornus Blooming Pink Tetra - Flowering Dogwood

Cornus 'Blooming Pink Tetra' is a small hybrid dogwood, decorative almost all year round. Its large pink bracts are abundant in late spring and are followed by beautiful edible red fruits. Its semi-evergreen foliage shines late into the season. Well suited to small spaces, this bush finds its place in all gardens. Very hardy and less difficult to grow than its parent Cornus kousa and its cousin C. florida, it definitely deserves to be discovered. Give it a prime spot, preferably in partial shade, in a large shrub bed and in non-chalky soil.

Cornus 'Blooming Pink Tetra' is part of a new series of hybrids resulting from the cross-breeding of the decoduous Cornus kousa, with evergreen C.angustata. This series, called 'Blooming Tetra', brings together cultivars of modest stature, well-branched with semi-evergreen foliage, which produce large "flowers" and large fruits. Their foliage turns orange to red early in autumn and the show lasts for many weeks. All these plants belong to the dogwood family. 

It is a tree or large bush that generally reaches 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) in height and 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) in width at the age of 10 years. Ultimately, it will reach about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height by 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) in spread, depending on growing conditions. This cultivar shows fairly slow growth. The flowering takes place in May-June. The bush is adorned with a multitude of 'flowers', which are actually inflorescences, measuring 8-9 cm (3.1-3.5 in) in diameter. They are clusters of small, green true flowers surrounded by 4 pointed bracts forming a star. Their colour is a tender pink and evolves into a deeper pink over the course of about 6 weeks. These inflorescences are arranged on the tree as if they were placed on the foliage. The flowers are followed by pink to carmine red fruits, resembling strawberries. The higher the summer temperatures, the more abundant the fruiting. The fruits are edible and fleshy, with a sweet flavour. They do not have much taste interest, but they enhance the charm of the bush at the end of the season.  This dogwood is also remarkable for its young shoots tinged with purple. The leaves are ovate, strongly veined and medium green. They turn beautiful orange and then red in autumn and partially persist on the branches. 

Cornus 'Blooming Pink Tetra' prefers continental climates, with marked summers and winters, but performs very well in milder areas. In hot regions, it should be planted in a spot sheltered from the scorching sun. This dogwood is beautiful and deserves to be planted as a standalone specimen, standing out in a small garden or a large shrub bed. Many acid-loving plants and shrubs with staggered flowering can accompany it. For example, oakleaf hydrangeas or panicle hydrangeas, Japanese maples with purple foliage, a Japanese Styrax...