Foliage Friday - Eastern Redbud

Happy Foliage Friday! Holy cow, is it really Friday? And really the end of September? Time is flying! But luckily for you, something that always stays the same - is your Foliage Friday. :)

Ready for a Foliage Friday update? I hope so! Here is your friendly plant post, where I talk about a plant I love and hopefully convince you to either plant it or just be more knowledgeable about it.

Plant: Cercis canadensis, Eastern redbud

Eastern redbud flowering in spring

Why: Not sure if you read comments from other posts, but my lovely cousin, Stephanie, commented that she wanted to learn about "those pretty trees with pink flowers in the spring that I want." First of all, this made me giggle because there are a bunch of trees with pretty pink flowers in spring... and I can't remember which one she liked the most! So today I picked one of the pink flowering trees to see if I was right. If not, I'll try again until we find it. :) And of course, hugs to Stephanie for actually commenting/reading/and making a suggestion! Steph and my dad are the best for humoring me haha.

Landscape uses: I forgot to mention this before.... but I love this tree. Love. This. Tree. I'm not 100% sure why. I do remember that it was one of the first plants I learned about in my woody plant ID class. Maybe that was part of it!

Overall, the Eastern redbud gets between 15-30 feet tall and 25-30 feet wide when it reaches maturity. Yes, this is a little on the shorter side compared to some of the trees I have written about. This makes it a lovely ornamental tree for a lawn or need a building since it doesn't need a large amount of space for its crown or spread.

Eastern redbud in summer

Its leaves are heart shaped (vocabulary: cordate means heart shaped when referring to leaves.) and it has zig-zag-gy (I just made that word up) delicate branches as well. In spring and summer, the leaves are a common green and in fall are yellow.

Heart shaped leaves of the Eastern redbud

As you can imagine by the name, it flowers! But not red, it's more of a deep pink. The flowers bloom before the leaves open, so it makes a striking statement in spring. You'll see the flowers typically between March and May, depending on the weather and which zone you live in.

Close up of the pink flowers of the Eastern redbud

It does best in well drained, fertile soils and doesn't require a lot of watering once established. Prefers to be planted in full sun to partial shade. Keep an eye on the leaves scorching if the leaves are splashed with water during high peaks of sunshine.

Other uses: I didn't know this, but after reading a little bit, I learned that the flowers and flower buds can be added to salads, breads and even pancakes! They are very high in vitamin C. Who knew? The seed pods can also be eaten and prepared in a vareity of ways: raw, boiled, sauteed. Also, if you boil twigs from the redbud in water, they produce a yellow dye. This would be an interested experiment to see if the dye is strong enough to dye an Easter egg!

Fun facts: Looking for a pretty flowering plant that attracts animals? Here is your plant for bird attraction! And as a perk, deer are moderately resistant to this tree. If you garden, you certainly would not want to attract anything else closer to your house!

Habit of the Eastern redbud

Couldn't be anymore excited to research and read about this beautiful, low maintaince tree! I actually planted one in my parent's backyard. I can't wait to see it grow into something as beautiful as this!


Information and pictures from: http://www.wildflower.org


Now, is there a plant YOU'D like to hear about next week?