Look what I found: Cornus Kousa

We have another dogwood!  This one's not a native - it's a Kousa Dogwood, also known as a Japanese Flowering Dogwood.

This looks like a flower, but it's actually a bract.

Now - in most cases, I prefer native plants.  They're better suited to the local environment, they're usually more pest resistant than exotic plants, and they provide valuable shelter for local wildlife.  However, I'm not one of those people who insists on only having native plants, so I won't be digging up this lovely tree any time soon.

In many ways, the Kousa dogwood is better than the natives.  It has more "flowers" and a longer bloom period.  It is more resistant to the dogwood anthracnose disease than the native flowering dogwood.  Finally, the Kousa dogwood has large, supposedly edible, fruits.  The little green bauble in the middle of the "flower" that looks a little like a raspberry will turn pink, and then eventually a dull red.  I look forward to giving them a try in the fall. 

If you're a native plant lover, do you ever make exceptions for exotic plants?