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!
The Eastern redbud is found from New Jersey to Texas and has been called one of the greatest native trees in the US.
Photo Credit: David L. Morgan
The Texas redbud is a tough little tree, thriving in well-drained soils where rainfall is limited.
Photo Credit: B.J. Simpson
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.
Photo Credit: David L. Morgan
‘Oklahoma’ is considered among the best selections of the Texas redbud.
Photo Credit: B.J. Simpson
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.
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.)
In the Southwest, Cercis canadensis var. texensis (Texas redbud) is found on the thin limestone soils of central Texas, where rainfall is 20-30 inches a year. Unlike the 5-inch-wide leaves of Cercis canadensis, Texas redbud’s leaves are only about 3 inches in diameter and are rather leathery, waxy and lustrous green, reflecting the more xeric climate where the tree occurs. As a result, the tree is better equipped to slow transpiration (water loss through its leaves). It adapts well to Zone 6, and I’ve seen it growing well in various soils in Georgia and eastern Tennessee. It’s also less likely to develop leaf burn in the dry, summer months than the Eastern tree, making Texas redbud a logical selection for drought-prone areas or for homeowners with irrigation limitations.
Texas redbud attains its most beautiful form on the Edwards Plateau around Blanco and Hays counties in Texas, where its flowers are salmon pink. It’s also smaller than Eastern redbud, reaching 15-20 feet tall (slightly less in width) and multistemmed. If you have a small landscape, this variety can be a very good choice.
There are outstanding cultivars of Eastern and Texas redbuds that a homeowner might consider, too. Among the Eastern selections, probably the most prominent are ‘Alba’, a lovely, white-flowering tree, and ‘Forest Pansy’, a handsome purple-leaf type. According to Dr. Dirr, the emerging foliage of ‘Forest Pansy’ comes out a “screaming, shimmering, red-purple,” settling to a more subdued, yet very purple, color as the season progresses.
Among the Texas redbuds, ‘Oklahoma’ has rosy-red flowers (and was found by an Oklahoma nursery professional in the Arbuckle Mountains), ‘Texas White’ is a milk-white selection (discovered as a chance seedling at the Germany Nursery in Fort Worth), and ‘Sanderson’ is said to be the most xeric Texas redbud introduced in the trade so far.
If you’re considering a fairly small, round-headed tree with striking spring color, think about a redbud. There’s bound to be one out there that will fit well in your garden – and you won’t be disappointed.
