Celestial Shadow® Variegated Dogwood
Bower & Branch Trees and Plants
Cornus kousa x florida 'Celestial Shadow'
Regular priceThis plant is not available at this time through Bower & Branch. We provide this plant profile for reference only.
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Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Mature Height: 20-25' tall
- Mature Width: 20' wide
- Exposure: Full Sun/Part Shade
- Spacing: 15-20' apart
Why plant Celestial Shadow® Variegated Dogwood?
The Celestial Shadow® Dogwood tree is a rare and choice ornamental tree that will wow you all season long with a parade of changing colors. In spring, you'll marvel at the variegated leaves when they emerge, each one bordered by a generous margin of canary yellow. The green and gold leaves soon become the backdrop for dazzling white flowers, and in fall the foliage turns psychedelic shades of purple and pink! This hybrid Dogwood tree is not only a looker, but a strong and healthy selection with greater disease resistance than ordinary Flowering Dogwoods. Plant one now and let the show begin!
This tree is the result of both carefully planned breeding and sheer luck. The original tree, Celestial White®, was the outcome of a deliberate breeding program masterminded by Dr. Elwin Orton of Rutgers University. His plan: to wed our native Flowering Dogwood with the Japanese Kousa Dogwood, thus imparting the descendants with beefed-up disease resistance. It was a rousing success. Now for the luck part: one Celestial® tree at Don Shadow’s Tennessee nursery sprouted a variegated-leaved branch. Don knew just what to do—get it into production and share it!
How to use Celestial Shadow® Variegated Dogwood in the landscape?
As a cross between Flowering Dogwoods and Kousa Dogwoods, this is a very vigorous Dogwood and disease resistant! The foliage is green with golden yellow variegation—new growth even shows hints of red - and the delicate white blooms cover this beauty in spring.
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 5-9
How To Plant Celestial Shadow® Variegated Dogwood
Because this tree has such an excellent genetic makeup, several common Dogwood problems are essentially eliminated. The risk of the tree contracting the anthracnose or borer issues that purebred Flowering Dogwoods sometimes succumb to is virtually nil. All that is left for you to do is to make sure this tree is satisfied in its cultural requirements. Regular irrigation and freely draining soil are the biggies—Rutgers Dogwoods don’t like to dry out, but they can’t sit for too long with “wet feet.” Full sun or light shade is best.
How To Water
Water weekly, or better yet, use the Bower & Branch® Water Element to deliver just the right amount of moisture to your tree throughout the growing season.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer, start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant food granular form on an annual basis each late fall. Continue this for the first three years to get your plant well established.
How To Prune
As your tree grows, you’ll probably want to remove the lowermost branches to show off that amazing jigsaw-puzzle bark! Pruning is best done shortly after the flowers are spent.