Redbud

* Common name: Redbud

* Botanical name: Cercis canadensis

* What it is: A small, native flowering tree that grows slightly wider than tall and blooms magenta to pinkish-lavender in March to early April. Leaves are heart-shaped and appear as flowers wind down. Fall foliage is yellow. ‘Forest Pansy’ has burgundy-tinged leaves. The Rising Sun has orange/gold leaves.

* Size: 20 to 25 feet tall, 25 to 30 feet wide.

* Where to use: Most at home along a wood’s edge under taller trees but also does 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 mildly alkaline, damp soil but adapts to mildly acidic conditions. 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. Canker and verticillium wilt are diseases that can reduce redbud’s life span; good soil and correct planting help prevent them. Prune after flowering to thin excess or crossing branches and to shorten long branches.

* Great partner: Foamflowers make a nice underplanting. Daffodils and glory-of-the-snow are two spring bulbs that overlap redbud bloom time.