Red Leaved Redbuds?

Does anyone know of a type of redbud that has dark maroon leaves in the spring? I grew up with redbuds in Arkansas and I have never seen one leaf out with these beautiful red leaves. Now we have recently bought a house in southern Missouri and there is a redbud in the backyard leafing out with red leaves. There is another smaller one in the front yard that is leafing out with green leaves. Neither one of these bloomed very much at all this spring, and both have that typical "umbrella-shaped" habit.

'Forest Pansy' has maroon leaves. I'm not sure if that's the only one or if there are others as well http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31646/

'Lavender Twist' is a newly renamed redbud (formerly 'Covey') which also has purple leaves in the spring. I doubt though that this is the one you are thinking of.

http://www.naturehills.com/product/lavender_twist_weeping_redbud_pp10328.aspx

I've never actually seen one of these but they certainly look tempting to add to the landscape.

Snapple, there are a few smaller specimens of 'Lavender Twist' at a local nursery in Iowa City. They are really good looking trees. One of the big allures is supposedly that they are sterile...so no "baby redbuds" popping up all over the place.

Aw, Come on ic! You guys must get all the good stuff! I've never come across one locally. In fact I just drove 4-1/2 hours round trip to get a new Acer palmatum 'Shirazz'. The local nurseries/garden centers don't go out on a limb with the choicier stuff. Worse, I've seen WalMart with Bradford Pears and Silver Maples. Uhg!

This is our local nursery for neat and unusual things: http://www.iowacitylandscaping.com/

I purchased a picea orientalis 'skylands' there yesterday. Really nice 3' tree for $100. Personally, I think that is a great price. They had a few other choice things I now have my eyes on...every spring around the middle of April they have a "Buy one tree, get one 1/2 off" and it is also good on all ornamentals. I'm really kicking myself for not stopping in for this year's sale, they have some really choice stuff. Warranty is great, too, one year full refund for all trees and shrubs purchased at regular price.

So, if you are every in Iowa City in May - check them out! The really cool things are usually gone by the end of June.

They've got a nice web site. I can just see me trying to schlepp some plant material from Iowa to Ohio. From Toledo to south of Akron and back was bad enough, especially with today's gas prices. I've got a 'Skylands". I love it. I found a Abies nordmanniana 'Golden Spreader'. Boy, that one is a real caution light yellow. It doesn't work into the garden all that easily. I have no idea how well they hold their color.

I have a 'Forest Pansy' cercis/redbud that went in last year. Survived the drought well, and came through last weekend's miserable windstorm unscathed. Love the foliage color and habit.

Wow - it is definitely "Forest Pansy" - just beautiful! Mine barely bloomed at all, but it more than made up for that with the lovely deep red leaves. Both of our redbuds have mostly 'cupped' leaves, as if they have suffered some sort of damage. The only low temps we have gotten since they leafed out are lows of 43-45. Think it could be damage from those low temps or some other problem?

Snapple, I purchased a 'Golden Spreader' from mail order this year. It is about 4 years old and looks a bit smaller than the one you have. About 2/3 of my 1/2 acre lot is wooded, I stuck it on the edge so it will get morning sun and afternoon shade. I think it will look great in that spot, really brighten it up.

ericabelle:

Cupped leaves on new spring growth of redbuds is often a reaction to exposure to certain lawncare herbicide volatiles in the air. I can't remember if it is 2,4-D or one of the other common applications that causes this. Have you or any neighbors had any lawn treatments performed this spring since the redbud started leafing out?

This isn't usually a long-term or fatal condition, just not the look that one would expect from their redbud.

Ericabelle,

I'm about 100 miles west of you (just a little north of Springfield), and have some of the same issues with my redbuds. While some right in Springfield were spectacular, mine north of town were a bit lackluster. Mine are all native, naturalized redbud, one of which I transplanted from my woods to the yard a few years ago.

I think that some of the really cold spells that we had when the redbuds were first beginning to bud (early March) are the culprit. Mine are being slow to leaf out, and the few blooms they had are long gone now.

Well, I wondered about the cold snaps earlier this spring - we had some pretty severe ones! We have also used a herbicide on our lawn - it seems that, with the house we bought, we inherited a weedy back yard. Hopefully the redbuds will continue to leaf out and recover from the damage.

I've had a beautiful Forest Pansy redbud for 5+ years which performed beautifully until inexplicably not leafing out this year.
It's toast.
I have no idea what happened to it, as all my other redbuds are fine.
(Volunteer redbud seedlings are almost a weed in my area, so redbuds certainly thrive in our region;
I have dozens of mature redbuds on my premesis.)
It showed no sign of problem last season.
I have another small Forest Pansy which looks OK.
I'm not sure whether it's a unique problem related to Forest Pansy or just a fluke problem w/ this particular tree.
The foliage is superior to the standard redbud; glossy and maroon, which holds late into the summer.
Alas, no significant fall color.
The 'texensis' cultivars ('Oklahoma', for example) also have superior foliage, but not red, and again, no significant fall color.
I also have a VERY cute dwarf cultivar with adorably congested leaves. Doing fine so far, but just a couple years old.

Weerobin, what is the name of the dwarf cultivar you have? Redbuds pretty much are a weed in my yard, and I'm quite a bit north of you! I really like the cultivar with the golden/yellow leaves, but alas, no room for another large tree.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth: The dwarf cultivar is called 'Little Woody'. I got it at Fairweather Gardens on-line.
It was pretty expensive, but they provided a beautiful big plant, not just a twig.
It'll take a couple more years to see what it's ultimate habit will be. So far, it's very cute.
Flowers like a normal redbud.