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Hello Mid-Ohio Valley Farmers and Gardeners. Hope everyone enjoyed a blessed Easter with family and friends. Lots of Easter egg hunts occurred in the Valley last weekend. Backyard gardeners are getting excited to plant warm season vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and squash.

This week I want to talk about the beautiful Eastern Redbud Tree (Cercis canadensis), which is blooming right now. As you drive across the Valley, you will see it along roadsides and on the edge of the woods with its gorgeous spring blooms.

The genus name Cercis comes from the Greek word kerkis, which means weaver’s shuttle. This refers to the seed pod resembling the size and shape of a weaver’s shuttle used to move thread back and forth on a loom.

If you are looking for a small to medium sized ornamental native tree to enhance your landscape around the home, look no further. It will make a great choice for a replacement if you have any of the Callery Pears, which you need to remove.

Callery Pear varieties include “Bradford,”‘ “Chanticleer,” “Cleveland Select,” “Autumn Blaze” and “Aristocrat.” Wild Callery Pear, a result of cross pollination of these varieties, are considered an invasive species in Ohio and West Virginia and are spreading rapidly across the landscape.

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Yes, if you have a Callery Pear in your landscape it needs removed and replaced. There are many good substitutes for this tree, including the Eastern Redbud.

This native tree is flowering right now with its beautiful purplish reddish blooms. You can see many growing along the edge of woods or as you make a drive on U.S. 50 from Parkersburg to Clarksburg.

Eastern redbud works great in the home landscape due to its medium size. It grows 20-30 feet tall and 25-35 feet wide. Eastern redbud is hardy in USDA Zones 4-9.

Redbuds are fairly easy to grow and are adaptable to soil types and pH levels. However, they prefer moist well-drained soil with an alkaline pH (such as limestone soils). They do not do well in poorly drained or sandy soils.

Part sun is best with protection from the hottest sun of the day. Although they are somewhat tolerant of dry soils, drought stress can result in problems, so irrigating during summer dry spells is recommended. Mulching also helps to maintain soil coolness and moisture.

Redbud can be utilized as a specimen, patio or lawn tree, in small groups or naturalized plantings. Eastern redbud is excellent with spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips that are in bloom at the same time. It combines well with other shrubs and perennials in a mixed border and works well as a naturalized planting along a forest edge. As a relatively small tree, it is well suited to smaller properties.

Eastern redbud is an important food source for pollinators because it blooms so early in the spring. The pinkish-purple flowers remain colorful for a two- to three-week period. The flower clusters are rich in both nectar and pollen and provide a valuable food source for early bees at a time when food is scarce.

Many bees visit these flowers including honeybees, bumble bees, and mason bees. In addition, redbuds are also host plants for the larvae of several butterflies and moths.

Trees grow quickly when young, then have a medium growth rate. The dark red brown bark has a scaly surface and forms deep fissures to expose the cinnamon-orange interior. On older trees there can be dark purplish patches on the bark, and the trunk may become twisted with age. The slender, zig-zagging stems are dark, almost black, with lighter colored lenticels and tiny, rounded chestnut brown buds on the tips through the winter

The heart-shaped leaves turn yellow in the fall. Eastern redbud is in the Fabaceae (legume) family, so the fruits are brown to black pods typical of that family. While most members of the legume family are able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, eastern redbud lacks the nodules and bacteria necessary for that process.

The flowers are followed by flat, pea-like pods, although many trees are sterile and produce no fruit. These pods start out green but eventually turn brown when they mature in mid- to late summer. Each of the 2-4 inch long pods contain 4-12 flat, elliptical brown to black kidney-shaped seeds.

There are many cultivars available, just double check cold hardiness. “Ace of Hearts”‘ is a compact selection (max height about 12 feet high), hardy in zones 5-9 with light violet flowers. “Appalachian Red” has deep red purple buds that open to bright pink flowers. “Alba” has white flowers that blooms later.

“Columbus” is a selection collected near Columbus, Wisconsin, and was bred for cold hardiness. It is a useful variety for Midwestern and northern U.S. areas. “Wisconsin” or “Wisconsin Strain” refers to this same selected population

“Covey” (Lavender Twist™) is a weeping form, with stiff, contorted stems. “Flame” has double rose pink flowers and seldom sets fruit. It is more erect than the species.

Finally, “Forest Pansy” has vivid reddish-purple leaves in early spring that changes to dark green on the upper surface later in the season. It tends to bloom later than the species with darker colored, almost purple, flowers.

Eastern redbud has few insect pests other than scales and is not favored by deer, but is susceptible to Verticillium wilt (especially in wet sites) and Botryosphaeria canker. Wood can be brittle with older trees causing splitting at crotches and branches breaking off in wind and heavy snow, and this species tends to be short-lived, especially if stressed. It is tolerant of juglone, so can be grown under black walnut trees.

Contact me with questions at the WVU Extension Office at 304 424 1960 or at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu. Good Luck and until next, Happy Gardening!