Redbuds for Summer Foliage Color

Eastern Redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) are known for lighting up the garden in early spring with brilliant, reddish-purple blooms before foliage appears. (For a link to my 2018 blog post about Redbud trees, click here.) The green-leaf types fade into polite obscurity after blooming. Their showy cousins, however, sport foliage that will electrify the summer garden.

It does not matter if your taste leans toward rich purple or screaming chartreuse, upright forms or weepers, there are special cultivars that will be focal features in your summer garden.

‘Ruby Falls’ weeping Redbud

‘Ruby Falls’ is a purple-leaf weeping tree with a compact growth habit that will grow no more than 30 feet. ‘Merlot’ is an upright form with the same maroon foliage. ‘Forest Pansy’ is a taller, older cultivar that is gorgeous early in the season, but its leaves change to mostly green in the heat of the summer.

New growth on ‘The Rising Sun’ Cercis canadensis

‘The Rising Sun’ new growth is apricot, changing to chartreuse and then a bright green. A healthy tree will put on new leaves all summer, so all three colors will appear at the same time. Unfortunately, ‘The Rising Sun’ has weak branch structure and is prone to breaking in windy areas or under snow or ice loads. The specimen in the Mary Snoddy garden lost more than half its limbs in summer storms. Several friends have trees that suffered similar damage, to confirm that this is not an anomaly. It is a beautiful tree and I will add more to my collection, but will site them in an area with a windbreak like the one shown in the accompanying photo, below. ‘Hearts of Gold’ has similar chartreuse color but does not show any apricot or peach tones.

Redbuds are considered understory trees, performing best in the south when given light shade from taller trees. They are one of the few plants that will thrive near black walnut trees. High light exposure results in more blooms and denser growth habit, but expect to provide supplemental irrigation if sited in full sun. Most trees are naturally multiple-trunked, which I find more attractive and natural-looking than those trained to a single leader. Plant them where low-hanging limbs will not block walkways or behead the person mowing the lawn.

Exercise special care to avoid damaging the thin bark. A string trimmer is The Enemy. Injury provides an opportunity for canker or other fungal problems.

Redbuds grow in zones 5-9 and are rarely browsed by deer. They transplant most successfully when small but gain size rapidly. Their life expectancy is about 20 years but may succumb much sooner if exposed to pre-emergents or herbicides.

‘The Rising Sun’(tm) Redbud appears to advantage when seen against a backdrop of darker evergreens, which also serve to protect it from wind breakage.

‘Ruby Falls” is a tree for lovers, covered in burgundy hearts

Judas Tree or Redbud?

Throughout my neighboring woodlands, native Cercis candensis trees are lighting up the landscape with their bright reddish-purple blooms. As a gardener, I have always known this tree as a “redbud” but my husband grew up knowing it as “Judas tree.” I researched the origin of the Judas common name, and ran across several versions. You can pick your favorite.

1. After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, he was so ashamed of his actions that he hanged himself on a tree with white flowers. The tree was so sad that its white flowers turned to red with shame. The tree was originally tall and strong, so the story goes, but after Iscariot’s suicide, its wood was weak and the tree was short so that it could never again be used as a vehicle for hanging.
2. Corollary to the above version, the blossoms hang from the branches like a man hanging from a noose. It takes a lot of imagination to follow this imagery.
3. The French common name is Arbre de Judee, meaning Tree of Judea. Judea is a hilly area where the Cercis thrives in the wild. Tree of Judea may have been misunderstood as Tree of Judas.

The redbud is in the legume family. The flattened seed pods resemble snow peas. The blossoms are edible and can be used to add a little color pop to spring salads. I think they don’t have much taste.

Here are a few of the most common cultivars. ‘Avondale’ is a prolific bloomer; alas, it produces a zillion seed pods too, so can be messy. ‘Don Egolf’ is a good bloomer, and does not produce seeds. ‘Covey’ or ‘Lavender Twist’ are weepers. ‘Oklahoma’ has a much deeper bloom than the others, almost purple. ‘Forest Pansy’ has beautiful burgundy leaves in spring, but it deepens to green when temperatures rise in the summer. There are several white cultivars, but all I can say about them is “meh – not for me.” 

There is a newer cultivar in the Mary Snoddy garden that I really like. ‘The Rising Sun’™ has the same pink/purple blooms as its cousins, but its foliage emerges peachy-color then turns chartreuse before it becomes lime green. New leaves that unfold during the year are the apricot color. The combination of several colors of leaves held at the same time is a real eye-grabber.  I’m itching to try ‘Whitewater,’ a weeping variety with white variegated leaves. Weeping AND variegated -- Wowzer!

Redbuds are best used as understory trees. Their small stature makes them perfect in partial shade cast by taller deciduous trees. Their zigzag trunks are interesting, but they usually lean one way or the other rather than standing up straight. Give them a little extra water during hot dry periods and they will thank you for it. They should be moved when small to reduce transplant shock.

The Rising Sun redbud, starting to show apricot leaves emerging