A landscape designer friend told me I should not be buying those $5.00 trees that line the sidewalk in front of the grocery store. “They won’t last,” she says. That might be true in many cases but, bargain shopper that I am, I cannot resist. I figure it’s a cheap gamble and I’m a planting fool. Sometimes it does not pay off but sometimes it actually does with gusto. Let me tell you about my wonderful $5.00 redbud that has become my oddity specimen tree.
I really love the Eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis). It seems to be drought resistant and has a high tolerance to salt. Before the leaves appear, thousands of small pink flowers burst open along the truck and branches. It can be planted in full sun or part shade and it thrives in a variety of soil types. If you check out the tiny blooms, they look much like the pea bloom for it is in the same family. Following the James River along the Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg, the pink redbud blooms usually open about a week before the dogwood. I find myself planning additional trips to Williamsburg to be a witness to the redbuds blooming among the glorious dogwood trees. It is a sweet welcome to spring each year.
click to enlarge
Well, here is my oddity $5.00 redbud tree. It bloomed pink with one trunk for several years. When additional trunks began to emerge, I allowed them to develop to balance the tree and the tree began to bloom white AND pink. This baffled me for a couple of seasons. The lovely heart shaped leaves were identical. Did I have a grafted redbud that grew on a white redbud root? No, I did not. I discovered as the tree aged that it is actually two trees from one pot. The white redbud (Cercis canadensis f. alba) may have developed from a seed that sprouted in the same pot. Examining the trunk, one can see that the pink redbud has a rougher trunk than the smoother white redbud trunk.
click to enlarge trunks
Mystery solved. My landscaper friend just scratches her head and agrees that this $5.00 was very well-spent. This summer, I am taking cuttings from the white redbud and trying my hand at propagation. In a few years, I may have a border of white redbuds!
Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester
Congratulations on that – or should I say those – beautiful redbuds. and such a bargan! Gotta’ love it!
LikeLike
The best 2-for-1 i’ve seen in a long time ! Gotta love redbuds !
LikeLike
I adore redbuds. They say “spring” and “hopefulness” to me!
LikeLike
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!! I find that with enough TLC…. those bargains can work out just fine!
LikeLike
Another mystery solved – for me! At the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD there is a pink and white dogwood that I marveled at every spring. Perhaps it was also two trees.
Here, we had a nice little pear tree that got damaged in a storm and was cut to the ground. Now we have a new tree from the root stock. It is a bushy large tree covered with tasteless little pears!
LikeLike
Pingback: Judaszowiec kanadyjski « Kwiaty ogrodowe
Go girl! Landscape designers don’t know everything. They only know how to design a yard and spend your money.
LikeLike
That is odd. Redbuds are beautiful trees though.
LikeLike
Redbud trees are among my favorite trees. I’m glad they grow in New Hampshire!
LikeLike
What zone do you live in? I live in zone 9. We planted a beautiful white dogwood in our yard, but the heat and 8hrs of full sun have burned up half my tree. We want to replace it and I was considering an Eastern Redbud since our yard is small. I’m worried a redbud will end up just like our dogwood though.
LikeLike
The redbud was was planted in zone 7b, the seacoast of Virginia. You must live in Florida??
LikeLike