Wow! What a wonderful place you have to display them too. I hope mine do as well this year - it'll be at least two more weeks before they bloom here, maybe more. There's an old one at the foot of our street that DH calls 'the most beautiful tree in town'. Do you have any white ones? My two are white.

I've never seen that view of your place before. I just love your place. It's terrific!

Your Redbuds are indeed spectacular this year. Mine were too.

Isn't SPRING a feast for the eyes when it comes in such a pretty package?

~Annie

First of all, I'm sorry but I was sure I posted this in the Gallery not Discussions! Thanks for the compliments. No, I don't have any white redbuds altho they are for sale in the area sometimes.

Schoolhouse- Those are beautiful! What type of redbud is the small, purplish one? How big do they get? They would look perfect behind my fairy garden :)

Those are truly a beautiful sight! That green grass just sets them off. Such a pretty setting you have.

kay

They are all Eastern Redbuds and grow to 20 -25'. It depends, sometimes they can grow like a shrub with multi trunks. I have another older one on the edge of the orchard that is much taller.

That might be too big for the fairy garden, but I've got to see if those will do well in my area. Maybe between the fairy garden and the potager... :)

Lavender,

You can top them out and keep them shorter, but they get bushier too. They make filtered shade, great for shade-loving plants, like ferns and etc. They are also a legume, with nitrogen-fixing roots. All my shade-loving plants do great under them, and even my Peonies and Phlox.

I keep coming back to look, schoolhouse.

sweetannie4u

Those are spectacular, Schoolhouse! What a beautiful space you have. Do you live in the country? I see a big field to the side of your home but that might just mean you're on the outskirts of town or something.

I was just taking a good look at my yard this morning and thinking of where I might plant a Redbud tree. I had one years ago when I lived in the city and it was so pretty. I miss it.

MeMo

I've also read that they are a short-lived tree. Mine I would say are probably around 15yrs. - 20yrs. old? At that time I would plant one or two a year. Once established, they grow pretty fast and I prune often to keep their shape and decrease the chances of wind damage. One tree has a split trunk from a tornado like storm several years ago. It has so far managed to survive in that condition.

You may not get blooms the first year after planting and it might take a couple years or more. I think it enjoys the company of other trees, too.

Yes, I like to say I live in the country, but the area isn't like when I first moved here 32yrs.ago. Road went from gravel to blacktop so now traffic is ten times as heavy, new houses and buildings being built across the way and tree and hedge screens disappearing. I'm surrounded by farms, and the small town I grew up in is only about a mile or so away. Life changes but goes on.

Pretty! Everything seems to be doing so well this spring. I love that last photo of of the path.

Yes,
Redbuds are short lived trees.
I transplanted three that I got out on my Great-grandparent's old farm (along with some of Great-Grandmother's old white species garden roses, Bridle's wreath and lilacs). Other Redbuds have begun to come up from their seeds and now there are quite a number of newer trees that we discovered this year up in the Little Wood behind our back yard. They do like growing with other, bigger trees, much like Dogwood's. Two of the newer ones even bloomed this year.

I love your old drive that goes around to the back and the beautiful expanse of grass (lawn). Beckons us back to the old days with horse-drawn surreys and buggies. And what a great view from there, looking out into the cultivated fields below.

~Annie

The redbuds were great this year. Mine causes lots of seedlings to pop up in amazing and not so handy places. A couple of years ago I dug up three and transplanted to various places in the yard. This year one baby bloomed! I felt like a proud Mama.

I do love your views and the general country feel of your place! Naturally....that appeals to me. Most of my long views are broken by barbed wire fence! That seems to be the difference between cattle land and cropland. I see that a lot in Iowa when visiting my sis.

Annie- I like the idea of planting them with other trees, but I don't have a lot of large trees by the house. They would be pretty with some flowers underneath, especially the peonies.

How nice that you could get the plants from your Great-grandparent's farm! We have some beautiful lilacs, peonies and daffodils that my husband's grandmother planted. I'm always trying to give some to his brothers and sisters, for their gardens, but they don't really garden much. I'm hoping the kids will enjoy it, so maybe they'll take some as they get older. It's such a treasure to have a piece of family history in the garden. That's one reason I have the garden spaces for the nieces and nephews...maybe they will learn to appreciate the plants and their connection to their great-grandparents :)

wow, I love redbud so much! I hope the one in my frontyard looks like your's one day! (it's just a baby now)

Just gorgeous! They are so big! You have done a great job pruning them, they have such nice forms.