Cornus kousa Heart Throb - Flowering Dogwood

Cornus kousa 'Heart Throb' is an attractive variety with its large and long-lasting deep pink flowers and colourful autumn foliage. It is a deciduous bush of medium size that develops an upright to spreading habit and often has multiple trunks. Its slender and graceful branches are arranged in horizontal layers which give it an oriental appearance and complement other plants in Japanese gardens. The flowering occurs from June and is surrounded by large bracts of deep pink, almost red colour that last for 6 to 8 weeks on the tree! Edible red-pink fruits, quite large and abundant, appear throughout the autumn, at the same time as its dark green deciduous foliage transforms into a fiery bush with shades of bright red and purple. Even in winter, the bush remains ornamental with its elegant silhouette, accentuated by peeling grey bark. It is a perfect bush for gardens lacking in light, with well-drained, cool and preferably rich and lime-free soil.

Cornus kousa or Japanese dogwood is a small tree or a large bush, native to Japan, China, and Korea. Its detailed silhouette, supported by layered and horizontal branches, gives it a very Japanese look. Resulting from many years of research and intense work of selection and hybridization, the variety 'Heart Throb' is exceptional with its large flowers of deep pink, almost red colour that are quite rare in the species. This cultivar develops an upright to spreading habit, reaching 4 m (13 ft 1 in) in all directions after many years. Despite its slow growth, it is a robust and easy-to-grow bush as long as it enjoys morning or evening sun, not too scorching, and a well-drained, moist, preferably fertile and lime-free soil.

The flowering of 'Heart Throb' takes place in June-July from 3 to 4 years old. The bush is adorned with a multitude of large 'flowers', which are actually inflorescences. These are clusters of small true, green flowers surrounded by 4 oval and pointed bracts arranged in star shapes of about 10 cm (3.9 in), a deep pink, almost red colour. The flowering becomes more colourful as the bush ages, but only if it is well established. The flowers are arranged on the tree as if they were placed on the foliage. After the flowers, numerous fruits of good size, ranging from pink to carmine red, similar to strawberries, appear. The higher the summer temperatures have been, the more generous the fruiting. The fruits are edible, fleshy, with a sweet but unimpressive taste and they enhance the charm of this large bush at the end of the season. 'Heart Throb' has dark green foliage that turns bright red and purple in autumn. The leaves of Cornus kousa are ovate, strongly veined, slightly closed, and wavy on the edges. They measure between 5 and 8 cm (2 and 3.1 in) long and are opposite to each other along the branches.

Cornus kousa 'Heart Throb' thrives in continental climates, with marked summers and winters, but performs very well in milder zones. In hot regions, it should be planted in a spot protected from the scorching sun, in consistently moist soil. This Japanese dogwood is still rare in gardens but very easy to grow as long as it has received careful planting. It constitutes a beautiful attraction alone and deserves to be planted in isolation, standing in the middle of a lawn for example. It will also do well at the back of a bed composed of ericaceous plants or evergreen flowering shrubs. Choose, for example, to accompany it with oakleaf or paniculate hydrangeas, Japanese maples with purple foliage, snowberries, Cercis, Fothergilla, or Tetradium daniellii, the bee tree.