It may be 10 years since we planted Cornus kousa “Norman Haddon) and, like Miss Jean Brodie, it is in its prime. It must be a good 10 or 11 feet now and flowers profusely. The actual flowers are the little blobs surrounded by 4 large cream coloured bracts, which gradually turn pink as the summer moves on. The flowers then become large red fruits, not dissimilar in appearance to a decent sized strawberry. These are edible but not worth eating so they feed the birds.

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