Spec-i-men Plant: an unusual or impressive plant grown as a focus of interest in a garden.

Update: I finally got a Flame Thrower redbud!! She’s a beaut! It’ll get to be about 15’ high by 15’ wide and will add amazing shade to our hot back patio.

Please know that I’m exaggerating when I say my ‘favorite tree’ because if you know me well enough, my favorites change with the season. But in this mid-spring season, my favorite specimen tree, hands down, is the Redbud.

I have three different varieties growing in my yard, though I’m only certain on one of specific varieties. I have three standard Eastern Redbuds, a standard Canadian Redbud and a ‘Merlot’ Canadian Redbud. My Canadian Redbud was victim to some kids hanging on one of the branches and we ended up losing half the tree. It’s recovering really well, though!

Redbud trees are beautiful at bud break in early spring, showing off with beautiful clusters of pink flowers all along the limbs of the tree. The nice thing about this tree versus other spring blooming trees is that the buds are more likely to stay on the tree in a wind storm instead of being blown away.

Once the blossoms finally do fall off, they give way to a beautiful leaf structure. The Eastern Redbud leaves emerge a red color and then turn to a beautiful green, heart shaped leaf. The Canadian Redbud leaves emerge a dark, almost black color and then turn into a beautiful maroon, heart shaped leaf. The new growth on both is a shiny, small leaf and as it matures it because large, sometimes upwards of 6″ in width. As summer turns to fall, the leaves will follow suit and begin to turn the beautiful fall colors of golds and reds. And as the storms start to blow in, they will eventually take the leaves with them.

While these trees are able to grow in partial shade, they’ll be much happier and push more blooms in full sun. The spread on these trees can reach 25′ – 35′ and they can grow to be 20′ – 30′ high and are best for zones 4-9. While there are different varieties, the ones in my yard have a low, spreading type canopy. The word that always comes to mind is a pagoda shape. Other varieties include weeping, single and multi-trunk, and shrub like trees.

The things I love about the trees in my are the strong and profuse blossoms, the shape of the canopy and the leaf structure. If you’re looking for a perfect specimen tree, you can’t go wrong with any variety of Redbud! The next one I’d like to put in my yard is the Flame Thrower variety, it’s beyond gorgeous!