Those kinds of winter temps are way beyond anything I've ever been exposed to. It's just way warmer here which often causes plants to break dormancy and begin active growth too soon. Then a drop below freezing damages them. It's nearly always better if they hold off the active growth until that danger is past, but there are nearly always plants that have some damage. The redbud may be one of those that are late breaking dormancy trying to avoid that. The native trees here that are really late breaking dormancy, like the mesquite and pecans, get really damaged on the rare occasions they get caught. Others, like the various elm varieties, don't seem to be bothered by a late freeze and shake it off. The others end up with some dead growth and recovery is a lot slower. Since the redbud I have is even later than the pecans, it has never been exposed to a late freeze. That's just an indication of how late it is because here, sooner or later, most plants get caught by one. I think they are probably adaptable on the moisture level. I've seen them growing along stream banks where it probably stays relatively moist and on rocky cliffs in thin, poor soil where moisture probably didn't stick around long. They were fine in either location. Same with sun vs under story growth - they grew naturally in both situations. Mine is in hot sun and poor subsoil and it is managing. I don't give it supplemental water very often.

Sandy - I'm just guessing here but seeing as how your redbud has survived two nasty winters, you might be in the clear. Winter 2013/2014 decimated 20+ yo hollies and arborvitae here. I always wonder how much mulch affects the outcome when the ground freezes so deep. One nice thing about the past two winters is that once it snows, it's too cold for it to melt. Winter sun scald might be an issue but we don't get too many sunny winter days. Winter wind can be nasty as well.

I hope you're right about being "in the clear," Cindy !

"The redbud may be one of those that are late breaking dormancy trying to avoid that. " Donald, I've been wondering about that, too... since the flowers come before the leaves, it would make sense if it was just generally later to avoid the blossoms getting frozen.

I'm not too keen on the winter temps here -- but I'd rather deal with that than with the heat in the south! (No wonder so many people live in the south in the winter and the north in the summer...)

Yeah, I'm not a big summer heat fan either. The last couple of days here have been nasty enough - 90+ degrees with almost 90% humidity.

You can always put more on, but you can never take enough off!

My motto!

Sandy,

I think your tree is mostly just being smart, and not taking any chances with its energy reserves. That being said, however, all of ours (mostly self-sown seedling starts that we've moved out of the flower beds) save one, are growing without issue or intervention in shade to the west or southwest. One tree that gets only a bit of southeastern shade has struggled for years. The year it did the best was when I gave it some barnyard fowl litter in late winter and a bunch of dead weed mulch in late spring. So I'd say feed and mulch it well if you decide to leave it in full sun. Deep watering (like a two-hour stint) three times a week in drought conditions should help as well.

Age to bloom is definitely a factor, too; at least it is here. If I'm remembering correctly, our redbuds are always next to last to leaf out; the only ones that are (probably) later are the pin oaks...and possibly the baby fringe trees.

Thanks, Chelle! Mine is in the southeast part of our yard and gets a bit of shade in the late part of the day... but I kind of think full sun in the UP is like "partial shade" most other places . The water table is pretty high as well, plus the past few years have been quite rainy, but I'll keep the watering in mind should things ever dry up here. I will give it a feeding and some mulch, though; I have a good pile of compost just waiting to be utilized! And if this one ends up croaking on me, I'll try a shadier location...

Tara -- believe me when I say it just isn't possible for me to put enough clothes on when the temp hits -30F !!
(on the other hand, I totally agree that it isn't possible to take enough clothes off when it's so hot... )

Yikes, apparently things weren't already bad enough with my poor little tree... I took a good look at it today and it has scale insects on some of the branches! Any advice for getting rid of them? A quick internet search found suggestions for using Neem oil, spraying with insecticidal soap, and scrubbing them off using insecticidal soap and a toothbrush. I'm thinking of trying that last option, but looking for opinions and suggestions

If I'm remembering correctly (these days I wonder), rubbing alcohol on a cottonball is supposed to be effective. Are redbuds prone to scale problems? I've never thought to look for scale on anything.

Thanks, Cindy -- I believe I've heard that about using rubbing alcohol, too. I don't think I've ever had a problem with scale on any plants, ever... but apparently redbuds are somewhat prone to several types of them...

Wow - I will definitely check for them. Sorry to say it but thanks for that info.

Sandy, a cotton ball is going to take a long time to do the job. When I have a big job to do on scale with alcohol I just use an old washcloth from the rag bag. It makes the work go much faster. You can soak that with the alcohol & wrap it around the whole branch instead of dab, dab, dabbing with a cotton ball.


Funny, my redbud breaks dormancy long before my pecans do.

Thank you, Ann -- I have a BIG rag bag, so that certainly works for me!

I thought my "Sunburst Locust" was late to leaf out until I got this Redbud!

flaflwrgrl said:
Funny, my redbud breaks dormancy long before my pecans do.

Other than the one I was given, I see them breaking dormancy before pecans too. That's why I think the one I received is different somehow. It oversleeps compared to the rest of its family.

Make sure you wear a protective glove when working with alcohol. Dry gardening hands will really get dry with the alcohol.
I wouldn't worry too much about your redbud. I think these cold winters can affect plants differently. I have lots of blooms this year on some plants but not on others of the same species. Since I don't fertilize, that's not a factor. I had to prune a lot of dead stuff on shrubs last year and they didn't show any regrowth but after a second cold winter, they've put on tons of new growth.