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| Photo Credit: David L. Morgan |
| The Eastern redbud is found from New Jersey to Texas and has been called one of the greatest native trees in the US. |
Along about the time I get fed up with winter, out pop the spectacular flowers of my neighbor Linda’s redbud tree. Then it’s let spring begin!
Linda’s tree is the classic Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), with bright-pink flowers followed by deep-green, heart-shaped leaves. It generally blooms in mid-March – coincident with the important local celebrations of my birthday and the annual Girl Scout cookie sale – and shortly after the flowering of the shrubby quinces and forsythias. Not a bad time of year, actually. Though I’ve lived in the neighborhood nearly 15 years, some of the local redbuds predate my arrival, as they’ve reached their maximum heights of about 40 feet and nearly equal spread. They perform well in full sun and dappled shade around here, and homeowners prefer to plant them singularly as specimen plants, to show off the open-branching habit and graceful shape. Many horticulturists, including the oft-quoted Dr. Michael Dirr of the University of Georgia, consider the redbud among the finest American-native trees. I can’t disagree. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: David L. Morgan | | One of the loveliest Cercis cultivars is ‘Alba’, a white-flowering Eastern redbud. This one graces the grounds of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. |
Cercis canadensis is found in nature in most of eastern North America from New Jersey and central Pennsylvania south to northern Florida, and westward into Texas. As might be expected, the more northernmost selections survive pretty darn cold temperatures – to USDA hardiness Zone 4. Even in the Southwest, with our sudden onsets of cold weather (we call them “blue northers”), I’ve never seen a redbud succumb to winter. (Of course, clever Northerners don’t grow the Southern varieties, nor do we use the most Northern selections.)
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