Eastern Redbud Flowers
Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are one of the first trees to bloom in the spring with deep pink flowers that take on a purple hue from a distance. While the seeds hold little appeal as wildlife food, redbud adds value to a habitat garden by providing a food source for early pollinators on warm spring days. A native to the southeastern United States, eastern redbud is a beautiful small tree with a gentle appeal, large heart shaped leaves, and a rounded form. With the surge in interest in gardening with native plants nurserymen have been giving the eastern redbud more attention and come up with some beautiful cultivars. These cultivars offer homeowners a wildlife friendly, native alternative to sterile and semi sterile flowering cherry or plums.
Redbuds are easy to grow and make a fine ornamental flowering tree. If watered well when young, redbud will develop a deep taproot and usually have no issues with surface roots coming up in a yard. While redbuds can grown in full sun, they are naturally found in the woods as an understory tree and this should be kept in mind in the southernmost areas of it’s zones. In some areas they will prefer partial shade. They are usually considered for Zones 5-9.
Forest Pansy, a reddish purple leaf eastern redbud
‘Forest Pansy’ - Wine red leaves on a 15′-25′ tree, ‘Forest Pansy’ is a tried and true redbud. New foliage is glossy and finely veined, turning red with a green tint as it matures. Here in the deep south (7b), Forest Pansy needs a little shade to keep the leaves looking full all summer long. Fall color can be reds, oranges, purples, and yellows.
‘Merlot’ – The new generation of wine red redbuds, ‘Merlot’ has shown to be more drought and heat tolerant than it’s predecessors. A cross between ‘Forest Pansy’ and Cercis canadensis var. texensis, ’Merlot’ has a slightly smaller leaf and more of a green tint to foliage as it matures than ‘Forest Pansy’. At 12’-15’, it can be a beautiful tree for a front yard or accent.
The Rising Sun eastern redbud with apricot, yellow and green leaves
‘The Rising Sun‘™ – A brightly colored new introduction that is becoming more readily available on the commercial market. Spring foliage is an apricot orange which matures to yellow and then to a lime green. All three colors can appear on the tree at once for a very showy display. ‘The Rising Sun’™ is more resistant to heat and burn than other redbuds. Fall color is a golden yellow.
Solar Eclipse
‘Solar Eclipse’ – A variegated form of ‘The Rising Sun’, ‘Solar Eclipse’ has the resistant to heat and burn of it’s parent however there have been some issues with this cultivar reverting back to species. This mean you would end up with a ‘The Rising Sun’ redbud which may not be a bad thing however may not be what you intended. ‘Solar Eclipse’ is still in the testing phase.
Lavender Twist is a green leaf, weeping eastern redbud perfect for smaller gardens
Weeping ‘Lavender Twist’™ – A green leaved redbud for the smaller garden, ‘Lavender Twist’ has a weeping form. It can grow 6′-10′ or be trained to grow smaller should you wish. It will fully weep, allowing it to be used in small space habitat gardens, as an accent or specimen tree.
Weeping ‘Ruby Falls’ – Weeping form and large red foliage is eye catching in any garden. After spring flowers, wine red leaves appear which will change to deep green during the summer. The deep color makes a dramatic statement and it’s small size of 4′-6′ make it suitable for a small space landscape.
If you are looking for a flowering ornamental tree, please consider a native redbud over a sterile alien such as flowering cherry. Redbuds help our pollinators at a time of the year when food is difficult to find and allows us to co-exist with wildlife. With the dramatic new colors and shapes, redbud can also offer any garden visual interest for all seasons.
Photos courtesy of The Kinsey Family Farm.
© 2012, Karyl Seppala. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Karyl Seppala
Oooooh, Karyl, I am SO jealous of your redbud-friendly climate in the south – up in New England these are marginally hardy and I treat them like fast-growing but short-lived ornamental shrubs (they are not originally native to New England). The pink blooms are so enjoyable and the pollinators adore them too. They usually succumb within a decade around here – either to late or early snowfall (which damages/splits the long branches) and I’ve heard that Forest Pansy just dies out after a couple of years inexplicably. Hope to make it down south some day to see the forests blooming with redbud…
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Ellen I am not a nurseryman but I think ‘Merlot’ will replace ‘Forest Pansy’. It’s kind of too bad because ‘Merlot’ does look different. I’ve seen ‘Forest Pansy’ grow beautifully around here, but it’s absolutely got shade. The decline issue I’ve heard about but not witnessed. I also feel any tree these days is if-y. Any tree you plant seems to have so many strikes against it years later – look at the ‘Cherokee’ dogwood series. even the abundant native dogwoods went through a rash of deaths a couple of years ago. BUT! Redbud in general does do well in my zone so I will keep planting it. Beats the dickens out of the new Bradford pear (why I ask, why??). When redbuds bloom the woods are lovely, it is worth seeing. Our woods are not nearly as interesting as New England but the redbuds help.
Karyl Seppala recently posted..A Woodland Gardener in the Burbs
In Virginia we have the same problem – redbud is not long lived here. It thrives on the verge, same place the deer love, rather than within the shade of the woodland. Often the main tree dies and offshoots grow to form another tree – living for 5-8 years – then dying. Have also seen Forest Pansy die young. Have no idea what is at work but they are worth planting, even if you only get ten years.
just curious – what zone in VA are you in? I am in 7b, and you must be 7a? Supposedly redbud’s native range is into Canada but I seriously doubt that. Virginia I would have thought fine for it. (http://1.usa.gov/IW1k1O)
Karyl Seppala recently posted..A Woodland Gardener in the Burbs
In the northern part of the Shenandoah – redbud is common here and throws lots of seed so the short lives don’t seem to diminish the beauty. But individual trees seem to collapse in a fairly short time. Used to be 6b – now 7a.
Central Florida: I have your basic, “untampered-with” species of Cercis canadensis aka EASTERN REDBUD sapling. At times it has struggled and I felt sure it was a goner this past winter. I lost the main leader for whatever reason and got the point where I even purchased a chickasaw plum as a replacement. Lo and behold this spring I began to see growth on the remaining branches and the pretty pink flowers. It has leafed out, so I chopped off the dead main leader and the balance lives another year. It’s a rather odd shape now, but I rather like it with the canopy fuller at the top. Although native to Fl, I think perhaps it was not the best choice for my county, although it is listed at the county directly to my west, and although I am not directly on the east coast, it seems that it is not particularly fond of the east coast of FL…..I believe it is time to take it’s “EASTERN” designation away
Loret recently posted..2012 Bird Broods II
Don’t worry, the powers that decide in the plant world will likely change the name soon anyhow. They love to (seemingly) randomly rename things.
Karyl Seppala recently posted..A Woodland Gardener in the Burbs
I have Forest Pansy redbuds which are going strong so far, not sure how old they are – but what I’ve been wondering about is, do the cultivars still feed the other insects? I believe I’ve read that the redbud is the host plant for some species of moth/butterfly, can the caterpillars still grow fully on a cultivar?
I have 2 yards with mature ‘Forest Pansy’ that have survived several droughts. A total of 5 trees – they are going strong but all are in a shaded spot. They also do get munched on by bugs but not heavily, as does my green leaf ‘Lavender Twist’ so I would say cultivars absolutely support insect life.Redbud is supposed to be a host plant for the Henry’s Elfin elfin butterfly but I’ve not seen this. Henry’s Elfin has several readily available host plants – such as black cherry which is everywhere here – so it may just be the butterfly prefers something else.
Karyl Seppala recently posted..A Woodland Gardener in the Burbs
Karyl welcome and what a great first post. I adore this tree and wish I had planted it since it is native here and does well in my 5b central NY area. I am happy to see weeping, smaller cultivars and will be noting these for the garden.
Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Gardens Eye Journal-May 2012
I love my weeping ‘Lavender Twist’, and I am not a big fan of weeping forms. That one however, I am crazy about. What I like about the newer cultivars is that they will attract the people only interested in ‘curb appeal’ – not the gardeners – to plant a native tree. They will get used in landscapes simply because they are flashy. For a small upright, the ‘Merlot’ is a winner.
I have to add that Redbud back onto my wish list even if I think I don’t have enough room. I didn’t realize they had much smaller cultivars but I’m not really a fan of “weeping” varieties. I’ll have to be on the look out!
thevioletfern recently posted..What’s Growing: Scallions
I am not a weeping fan myself but broke down and planted a ‘Lavender Twist’ just for the foliage. I actually like it which surprises me. It’s the first weeping anything I have ever grown. You can find them available, so maybe you can see a mature one at a B&B nursery and decide.
I love my redbud tree. I want to add more this year. I have a (sterile) viburnum in flower now. Though beautiful to look at I want something teeming with life.
Mary@Going Native recently posted..Housing Crisis at Marshview
Fortunately the redbud cultivars do not appear to be sterile. The top photo of the flowers with the bee was taken on a ‘The Rising Sun’. I’m with you – if it has no life, what is the point? I have indoors for that.