"it is southwest exposure so it gets tons of sun but its on a slight slope so it will get quite dry" Cornus kousa and Acer palmatum (or japonicum) probably won't be very happy in an exposed, full sun, dry location. Acer griseum or triflorum might survive OK if the soil is reasonable. If you're leaning toward one of these, you should also consider the hybrid griseum x nikoense - it's not as slow growing as straight griseum and triflorum, and its mature size is a bit larger. Cornus mas and officinalis are relatively tough plants that offer very early spring color. Check out the link for an article on Cornus officinalis Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese Cornel Dogwood

This is mainly for HairMetal4ever ... Firstly, sorry I'm late in posting back. Your suggestion for a picture was a good one (and I almost uploaded one) but I really decided that I'd just "wait & see". Well, I'm happy to tell you that, at long last, the tree leafed out and looks pretty good. As with most of my trees/shrubs, the harsh winter we had pushed the schedule back about 3+ weeks. But beyond that, the cicada larvae really took a toll on some of my shrubs, especially the rhododendrons - the ends of many branches croaked and withered. But the rhodies are quite resilient and came back. As I said, the poor Kousa dogwood limbs & twigs looked really bad (some were bent almost 180ð) and it took forever to set buds. It finally leaved out and set a few flowers (I'd say about half of what it did the year before) but I'm grateful that it seems to have rebounded. Poaky1 - I hope you don't have the mess we did w/ the cicadas. I remember that period - the incessant racket was surreal - like something out of a Stephen King movie! âº

An older gentelmen down the road has a 4' Pagoda in full sun, but as you mentioned you has a bunch of smaller shrubs and perrenials surrounding the tree...seems to be doing pretty good. How is your Satomi? I have a Wolf Eyes and I am debating whether to add a Satomi or Pagoda to my landscape. The Satomi seems more ornamental but Pagoda seems to tolerate more sun and has a nicer habit. The tree would be partially protected from winds, but will still get a decent amount of sun...but in time (5 years or so) will started to get some shade from an Oak I planted.

There are some sometimes spectacular-in-flower white Cornus florida on Seattle properties that may in some instances have been bought as stock sold under this name. But with any plantings of this species in the region there is the risk that other years flowering and foliage effect may be marred by chronic disease issues. In addition to the following article you might want to look at this guy's Seattle tree book (shown elsewhere on the same web site) for ideas. Walking around nearby publicly accessible gardens and arboreta with labeled tree plantings might also result in something catching your interest. Here is a link that might be useful: Trees that merit planting in Seattle This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 19:31