Redbud Flame Thrower

* Common name: Redbud Flame Thrower

* Botanical name: Cercis canadensis ‘NC2016-2’

* 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. What sets Flame Thrower apart is that it changes leaf colors throughout the season and can sport four different shades all at the same time.

The new growth of this 2020 introduction is burgundy-red, then leaves can take on varying shades of yellow, lime, chartreuse, and green as they mature.

Flame Thrower blooms pink in April, just before the leaves start emerging.

* Size: Flame Thrower is a slow-grower with an arching habit, reaching about 15 to 20 feet tall and 15 feet 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.

* Care: All redbuds prefer 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: Sweetbox is a good low evergreen groundcover that blooms in a fragrant white at the same time Flame Thrower is flowering. Golden ragwort is a native herbaceous groundcover whose golden flowers look good with the new burgundy-red leaves of Flame Thrower. Daffodils make a good bulb partner.