Redbud ‘Appalachian Red’
Redbud ‘Appalachian Red’ in bloom.
* Common name: Redbud ‘Appalachian Red’
* Botanical name: Cercis canadensis ‘Appalachian Red’
* What it is: Redbuds are small, Pennsylvania-native flowering trees that grow slightly wider than tall and have heart-shaped leaves that turn yellow in fall. ‘Appalachian Red’ is one of the most beautiful bloomers, sporting vibrant rosy-pink flowers before the tree leafs out in early spring. Good enough to earn a 2021 Gold Medal award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
* Size: Slow-growing to about 20 feet tall and wide in 20 to 25 years.
* Where to use: Redbuds are most at home along a wood’s edge under taller trees but also do well in any partly shaded, well drained location. Will tolerate full sun if soil is good and reasonably damp. Sun or part shade.
* Care: Prefers acidy, damp soil. Keep roots consistently damp the first year or two, then weekly soakings are helpful whenever it’s hot and dry. Fertilizer usually isn’t needed if a mulch layer is maintained. Prune after flowering to thin excess or crossing branches and to shorten long branches..
* Great partner: Foamflowers make a nice underplanting and bloom around the same time. Sweetbox is a good low evergreen groundcover that also blooms in a fragrant white at the same time. Purple hyacinths or Siberian squill are good bulb partners.