Climate area?

Please don't give up on Cornus mas. This pic was taken in D.C. in March. For us 10-12' height in 10 years sounds about right. The ones that I have seen are dense growing shrubs more horizontal than vertical.

Well worth the wait. With selective pruning when young this tough little gem can make a fine small specimen tree. Beautiful peeling bark pattern on trunk and the earliest yellow bloom of any flowering tree I know. Our biggest problem was finding one.

convert the common name to the latin thru google ... then add 'annual growth rate' ... and THEN research ... see link ... down a few links it says:

When young, kousa dogwoods have a medium growth rate of about 13 to 24 inches per year. Older trees slow down, growing 12 inches or less per year

==>>> the variance is particular to where you live.. e.g pnw 8 month growing season ... MI 5 months .. its going to be much more aggressive in the former ... [if it grows there]

no tree ever stops growing ... so dont put much stock on listed mature heights .. its all about how many inches it grows.. per year.. for how many decades ... though obviously.. this is not going to end up.. a 100 foot oak type plant ...

one way to get a slower growing version.. is to buy a variegated version.. less green.. less food production .. less annual growth .. generally speaking ... but they may be rather foo foo for your area ... wherever that might be ... and it will probably be double or triple the cost ...

ken

almost forgot the link.. again:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Cornus+mas&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=Cornus+mas+annual+growth+rate

Embothrium: I live in Massachusetts, zone 6a.

If you want a tree-like "Cornelian cherry" you can look for Cornus officinalis. It is hardy to USA zone 5 according to Cappiello/Shadow in their book Dogwoods.

Cornus mas usually grows shrub like and even with careful pruning is difficult (not impossible!) to get a well shaped tree out of it.

Both cornus mas and cornus officinalis are fine trees. Growth rate is so variable due to local factors such as soil fertility, length of growing season, etc. that it is really impossible to generalize. I would characterize both as moderately fast growers, but would not venture to translate that into feet per year. Both trees are almost always the very first splash of color in what is usually a gray time of year in most of New England. There are two forms of c. mas with distinctive leaves. 'Aurea' with yellow ones, and 'Variegata' with white margined ones. Both are attractive and not at all garish as is sometimes the case with yellow leaved plants, especially. I am not aware of any c. officinalis with other than plain green leaves.

In addition to aka's comments, I believe the most important site factor for Cornus mas-as for all dogwoods-is soil moisture. They'll live and develop in most any mesic site but do appreciate not drying out to often or too badly.

+oM

I'd second both aka's and tom's comments, except that in my area I'd consider them relatively slow growers. Good soil and adequate moisture will definitely improve the growth rate.

'Golden Glory' is a more upright variety of Cornus mas that may not be too hard to find.