May showers and flowers

Cornus kousa and cow parsley: a match made in Spring heaven

The Cornus kousa is in full ‘flower’ right now and looking spectacular. The white things are not technically flowers, of course, but the bracts of the tiny knobbly flower in the centre. Regardless, the tree looks as though it’s covered in enormous blossoms, which is why its common name is flowering dogwood. It is such a good Spring tree; so fresh looking. In fact the flowers start off a pale milky green - like the colour of those American jadeite dishes - and then ‘ripen’ to pure white. And there’s hundreds of them, weighing down every branch like something out of a pre-Raphaelite painting. I would rather have a flowering dogwood than a magnolia in a small garden any day (not that I don’t like magnolia, but the dogwood is something else).

I think dogwoods must like plenty to drink because after a dry spell last year this one got a bit curly-leaved and sad-looking. But just now, in this fairly wet May, it is bringing lush and bountiful energy to the garden. In fact even though it’s only been in the ground for a year, I can see loads of new growth. So I’ve been cutting some of the more wayward branches, and I’ve combined them with foraged cow parsley in massive vases for a very verdant display. I’m usually all about colour, but sometimes you can’t beat the minty freshness of green and white.