Redbud Care Must-Knows
Redbuds are easy-to-grow trees that don’t need a lot of care. Give them well-drained soil with even moisture, and they’ll be content. Redbuds don’t like to stay too wet and can take some drought once established. Plant them in full sun to get the best of redbud trees in bloom. This will also produce the best foliage color for the redbud tree varieties that come in different shades, especially those with burgundy foliage. These trees are pretty tough and can handle part shade as well. Although growth tends to be sparse when in the shade, redbuds will stay healthy. Come fall, redbud trees sport beautiful golden color. This is because the deciduous tree’s seedpods hold on through the winter. Due to the large amounts of seeds they produce, redbuds can seed around the garden, but luckily, they’re pretty easy to remove from where you don’t want them. Redbuds are fairly disease- and pest-resistant. However, you may notice that redbuds are sensitive to herbicides, which cause new growth to look puckered, contorted, or even tattered. When someone, whether you, a neighbor, or even a farmer miles away, sprays an herbicide to kill weeds, it can be carried on the wind and affect your redbud’s growth.
New Innovations
There have been many exciting new redbud introductions in the past few years. Breeding work has focused on dwarf varieties, which are ideal for small garden settings. Many novelty varieties, like new weeping forms with burgundy foliage, have also been introduced.
More Varieties of Redbud
Redbud
‘Forest Pansy’ redbud
Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ offers pink flowers and rich purple foliage in spring that fades to deep green in summer. It grows 30 feet tall and wide. Zones 6-9
Judas tree
Cercis siliquastrum is a 15-to 25-foot-tall tree with heart-shaped leaves that emerge a rich bronze color and turn reddish-purple and dark green with age. It is adorned with breathtaking clusters of maroon flowers in spring. Zones 6-10
Redbud
Cercis canadensis bears pink flowers before it leafs out in spring. It grows 30 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-9
The Rising Sun redbud
Cercis canadensis ‘JN2’ is an exciting dwarf selection that offers pink springtime flowers and marmalade-orange new growth that fades to chartreuse before maturing to blue-green. It grows 12 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-9
Western redbud
Cercis occidentalis, a native of the West Coast, is hardy to about 20 degrees F. Its flowers decorate leafless branches in spring just as Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) does. Western redbud grows 10-20 feet tall. Zones 8-10
