The most frequently
asked question about redbud, Cercis
canadensis, concerns the color of the flower not being red, but just like
the vernacular name suggest only the buds are red.Redbud blooms at about the same time as
dogwood and there is even an Easter legend associated with it resulting in the
alternate common name of Judas tree.Supposedly this is the species of tree that Judas hung himself from
resulting in a broken limb and the white flowers blushing pink.This legend has some veracity to it unlike
the dogwood legend because there is a very similar tree, C. siliquastrum, which
is more often called Judas tree since it has a native range that includes the Holy Land.Even
the detail about the broken branch is plausible because the branch angles are narrow
and often results in the trees splitting especially if extra weigh is added.One other unrelated problem is the numerous
seeds that can result in an occasional seedling in an undesirable location.The solution is to remove such seedling as soon as
possible otherwise the roots will be so deep to make it a virtually impossible
task as anybody who has ever thought they could dig or pull up the least one
seen growing on the side of the road has discovered.Getting a handful of seed pods would be the
easiest way to get a free one by far, and to increase germination success the seeds would need to be scarified with either acid (soaking in vinegar for a few hours should suffice for most) or sandpaper to make the seedcoat permeable.There are a couple of white flowered cultivars, but as expected the
nurseries are rather proud of them.
