Hasn't been on the market long enough for anybody outside of Rutgers to have much experience with it - even the original seedling is only 10 years old:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=PP28311.PN.&OS=PN/PP28311&RS=PN/PP28311

I too would love to hear any observations about 'Scarlet Fire' from folks who have grown it (or have seen it growing), as I've had my eye on this one since it was released to the public. From what I understand, the Rutgers Cornus propagation program has had a lot of success with hybrids of C. florida x C. kousa that are highly resistant to anthracnose and can tolerate a good deal more sun and heat than the typical C. florida.

The "golden ticket", so to speak, was getting the deep, rose pink color of a 'rubra'-type C. florida in one of these hybrids. I know the Stellar Pink/"Rutgan" hybrid received a lot of buzz initially, but I recall reading from a lot of folks who were underwhelmed/disappointed by the washed-out and pale color of the bracts, especially when it was exposed to hot and sunny conditions.

Scarlet Fire/"Rutpink", on the other hand, seems to be an open-pollinated C. kousa variety, rather than a hybrid, according to the Rutgers press release:

"...in this instance, the result of an open-pollination event of an unnamed pink-bracted Cornus kousa breeding selection held in the Rutgers University germplasm collection."

All the background details are on the USPTO page I linked to. No end consumer will have been growing it long enough to have accumulated much useful experience. Except where a recent planting may have come through a killer winter, been unaffected. But even then that would only be of interest if it showed the plant to be more hardy than it is already known to be.

I have planted two. I acquired them from the Rutgers Mothers Day spring flower sale. The first one, that was planted two years ago did flower red, although not as profusely as in the picture. The second one that I planted last spring actually flowered a very pale pink, you could call it white. I spoke to Pleasant Run, who is the wholesaler to Rutgers and they indicated that they would expect it to turn darker once they get more sun exposure and acclimate. This was confirmed by the manager of the flower fair at Rutgers. They are both still young specimens (approx. 4.5 ft height) and my feeling is it will l take at least a couple of growing seasons for them to reach potential.

I've gone back and forth with this thread, trying to decide whether or not to post :-)) If that color floats you boat, go for it! But a pale or washed out pink would be far preferable to me than that bilious color that is showing in the close up photo of the flowers. That is pretty hideous!!

If the nearly white one has the same site conditions as the true to type one - and the true to type one from the planting two years ago flowered correctly the same spring as the pale one - then it seems much more likely to me you were sold the wrong item the second time.

I will found out in May I suppose. The pale one flowered a week or so after planting, so maybe it hadn't been in the ground long enough? Both the wholesaler and Rutgers independently confirmed that the original propagator of this tree has indicated this to be a characteristic. Worst case scenario, I paid $90 for a Satomi which I could have picked up for a third at HD or Lowes.

Yet the first planting was red from the start, right? I've worked at garden centers where things have happened like "purple" lilacs blooming pure white after being received from a broker - and when asked about this their reply being that young lilac plants didn't produce fully expressed flowers! Stock can get mixed up at any point in the production and presentation sequence, assurances from sources that material is correct depends on it being known that nobody along the way ever made a mistake.

Another occurrence specific to grafted material is scions failing and sprouted root-stocks being grown on in their place, sent to retailers labeled as the scions. For instance a block of Kobus magnolia once appeared on the market in my area as Magnolia denudata. The finished specimens were about 8 ft. tall and producing the telltale M. kobus flowers. Looking at their stem structure it could easily be seen that their tops consisted of root-stock sprouts.

One of this distribution even ended up at a local botanic garden, where the director had not noticed the flowers were incorrect for M. denudata before I pointed it out.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, links and comments!

I guess I'll trial a scarlet fire when they appear in the local Lowes/HD as I don't want to shell out $140 for a local nursery to order one for me, especially if it will make someone nauseous!

LOL gardengal.

I'm floating in a sea of bilious pepto bismol on this kousa if for only the fact that every one in my neighborhood is white. Too much formal green/white landscaping without any hint of color. I'm sure the pink is less eye popping in person vs the enhanced photo.

I can get satomi, heart throb, rosy teacups, stellar pink but they all look a little washed out. Like the larger bracts of the scarlet fire and maybe a bit better color and disease resistance than the others.

Regards,

Will

Hey, it's your tree...if you like the dark pink, go for it :-) A pink dogwood of any intensity would never be my first choice....give me Cornus kousa chinensis or 'Milky Way' any day of the week!! Or the hybrid Venus with its massive creamy white bracts. Who cares what the neighbors have!!

The appeal of the color pink in any of its forms is pretty subjective. I just happen to go a long way to avoid :-)

The Radiant Rose ('Hanros') page on the Nuseryguide web site from Oregon has an unattributed catalog description that mentions the flower characters of pink Kousa being different the first year after transplanting. (Presumably the implication is that cutting of the roots has an effect on the flowering). And that the writer can't see any difference between that and two others (including 'Miss Satomi'). Whereas I am able to recognize plantings of Radiant Rose in the climate here anyway because of them having a gaudily intense pink color and broad bracts, as well as a more shrubby habit.

I don’t know about the pink Kousas and hybrids, but we had a pink Cornus florida at a previous home which had a lot of red in the new leaves. It was planted where it got early morning sun shining through the foliage, and it just glowed in spring when the leaves were emerging. So you might want to consider this when siting it.

I liked having a pink flowering dogwood, and though I am not a huge fan of pink in general, any flower color is fine by me.

If its a visibly different color I'm thrilled they're making it. Even Metasequoias don't belong everywhere but someplace that's sure to be needed.

Wanted to update as the Kousa has started to flower. As stated by Rutgers, it is flowering dark pink, albeit not profusely yet. Will update again if the pink fades.

Arbor Day is now offering this kousa for way less than online nurseries. i just ordered one. I have lots of white-bloomers(trees and bushes) around here, so a little popping pink will be fun!

@leeb5 Arbor Day trees are quite hit or miss as far as quality. They come bare root, and you may get a tiny but viable tree, but you may also get something dead, often because it was sent at a time when the weather wasn’t appropriate for shipping bare root.

@NHBabs That may be true, however, in all of the years (20+) I have bought from them, I have never had a problem with them or the trees I received.

UPDATE: I just received the Scarlet Fire dogwood I ordered last week from Arbor Day. I am thrilled with the young bareroot tree. It is 33” tall, many branches, nice shape, loaded with buds, and overall very healthy. Cannot wait to get it planted and see how it performs. I am in Zone 7B-8A, Arkansas.

ANy upates on this tree? How's it perfoming? How would this do in more notherly Z5 climates?

splaker,

I never purchased the Scarlet Fire as at the time the local home centers didn't carry it so instead

I planted a variety of white kousa's, crabapples and a hybrid dogwood(Venus). At some point I may grab one as I still have some planting to do with larger shade trees and I'll tuck the SF in with those.

Will

I planted scarlet fire the first year they came out. Now it’s about 8’ tall and wide, rather like a large bush then a tree, although selective pruning could easily alter that. Its blooms last year, and the year before that, were a solid medium pink, not the bilious hooker rouge of the advertisements, but that could change as the tree matures. I am in beautiful Mountain View Arkansas, zone 7A, and it‘s planted in native soil. It has been a robust grower.

The milky way kousa dogwood I planted two springs ago is growing very fast, and has started its horizontal spread. That’s what I’m REALLY waiting for.

As I type this in late March, the Korean Spice viburnum is in full bloom, and for the life of me I cannot figure why these aren’t way more popular. The scent out-performs lilacs, and it is a care free bush.

do the Korean Spice viburnum need a lot of sun?

The korean spice viburnums (3 of them) are in full sun during the first half of the day

And here is my scarlet fire kousa about to leaf out

I dont see anything

Sorry, ivtried twice to download the pucture and i figured it was taking its time. here you go

Scarlet Fire:

Regards,

Will

The last pic is of my standard pink cornus florida