if you don't care about the size and have patience, i've had good luck with trees that i received free by joining the arbor day foundation. they were tiny little things when i got them 3 years ago, and they are now between 3 and 4 feet tall. even if you are not a member, their prices are great, although joining them pays for itself with the savings. but like i said, much patience is required. the trees they send resemble bundled twigs, 6 to 18 inches in length.

I'm putting one in this spring also and all the nurseries around here carry them. Did you try all your local merchants?

Just a comment...I have a few Kousa dogwoods and I absolutely love them! The volunteer seedlings grow quite fast. The only caution I would make is to not plant them where they would hang over a walkway or driveway. They drop a lot of fruit come fall, which is great for the wildlife, but not on one's shoes.

Try Musser Nursery or Carino Nursery, both in or around Indiana, PA...they both have websites...and catalogs...also one time when I was out in that region, I stumbled across a nursery named Pikes Peak Nursery...and alway said if I ever got out that way again, I would take my truck and find it again somehow...I think I will wait until the price of gas comes down. I would think most of your local garden centers in your area would carry the Kousa's..there are also some nice variations (hybrids) of the Kousa that have pinkish flowers and perhaps some redish ones by now. I favor the whites, however. Try www.musserforests.com or www.carinonurseries.com or www.pikespeaknurseries.net

Well I sure was wrong. When I called our local nurseries asking for Kousas,they all said they had them. Then when I went out there yesterday what they really had were the stellars which are a cross between the kousas and the floridas.They are supposed to be more floriferous and upright than the Kousas and the best of all dogwoods but I like the way Kousas kind of spread out. Guess it's back to the drawing board.

You can get the Kousa's (chinese dogwoods) in either a single trunk form or multiple trunk. I have some of each. I have 3 multiple-trunk forms (3 trunks each) planted in a large kidney shaped bed at the front of the lawn. They are doing nicely. I have a Stellar Pink variety and a regular Kousa as well. If you don't prune the bush-form variety to a fixed number of stems, they will keep the bush form that is loaded with blooms in the spring. One nice aspect of planting Kousa's in the same area where native dogwoods exist, is that the Kousa's bloom 2-3 weeks after the native variety. Therefore, you have a longer presence of dogwood blooms.

What do you think of the Stellar Pink?

Blooms Blooms Blooms! where's my blooms??? everyone has blooms but me...whimper whimper.

I like the Stellar Pink. I had some tips die back from the attack by the 17-year locusts, so I am anxious to see how this young tree bounces back. It looks like it is setting buds and looks healthy except for some scar tissue on the branches from the locusts.