When I bought these two trees at Lowes 5 years ago they siad they were flowering crabs.Well they are not and I have no idea what they are.They are late leafing out here in northern maine.Seems like everything is dead in the spring then new shoots come out and they leaf out in late june.Never have seen any flower on them.They grow very slow and seem to get bushy instead of growing tall.HOPE SOMEONE CAN TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE,I HAVE TWO OF T HEM. Thanks Donna
That looks like a Redbud tree aka Cercis canadensis. Yours looks to have suffered damage to the top growth resulting in death of those stems and new growth from the roots. If you keep the tree, you will have much training to do if it's ever to look like a tree and not a large shrub. It flowers on old wood so if the top died over the winter, you wouldn't have seen any. The growth from this year should provide flowers next spring, provided that it does not die again this winter.
It may be just a little bit too cold for your trees to be happy. Although there are some very cold hardy Eastern Redbuds, most sold commercially are from the southern states, not the northern. Lowe's didn't do you any favors.
Its always good to read the entire tag and see where plants are grown and if they are hardy in your area. Its not just the big box stores either. I wanted to purchase a Pinon Pine a couple years ago but the ones at the local nursery looked wrong. I asked where they were from - they were being grown in Oregon (with too much water and not enough heat and sun). I passed.
Yeah if you really want a Redbud, try to find some northern seed and grow it from seed. They grow rapidly enough and readily start from seed.
That's what I did. Found some Pinon nuts and now have two little Pinon's.
My pinon nuts never made it to be planted, yummmm.
I remember now that you have said the name, it is a redbud,It does die back every winter,guess I will never have flowers then huh?Darn,I really wanted one for the beauty.Can someone send me a few pinon nuts? I live in northern Mane zone 3 and 4
Zone 3 or 4? No wonder the Redbud is suffering.
Pinus monophylla (Singleleaf Piņon), the one that grows in my area, is hardy to Zone 6. Pinus Edulis, the Colorado Piņon and the one that Kittriana is probably eating, is hardy to Zone 5.
It would make sense that Lowe's would sell something like that in an area that isn't warm enough to grow it...I have to shake my head because it's not just Lowe's but a bunch of nurseries have plants for sale that aren't fully hardy for the zone they are in. OP, if you have a smart phone, take it with you the next time you're plant shopping and double check everything you want to buy against a reliable source on the internet. Unfortunately, the DG plant files are not reliable since they are littered with misinformation. I say that but the user comments for each plant are invaluable. I usually make sure at least two places agree on zone before buying something I'm unfamiliar with. I only learned this the hard way a few years ago as a less experienced gardener.
The pinons I ate were in Belen/Albuquerque where grandparents were...
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Ok, I will definitely let you know next time I come across something.
Thanks everyone for your help and info.
