Forest Pansy is a purple leaved cultivar of Eastern Redbud. I just checked MOBOT, Fine Gardening and Monrovia web sites and all three describe it as reaching 25' in width. Not exactly upright. There are many cultivars available and some, such as Merlot, are described as being upright. Do some more research--make sure you are going to legitimate sources. The species Cercis canadensis has green leaves and purple flowers. There are cultivars with purple, yellow and variegated leaves as well as flowers of various shades of pink and also white. Lots of choices!

'forest pansy' has purple leaves, which is the only difference. The purple does slowly fade from the leaves throughout the summer. They are both great trees, never seen a redbud I didn't like.

If it matters, Forest Pansy is not nearly as hardy as the species.

Redbud is the species. Forest Pansy is the cultivar...like dog is a species and poodles are a breed of dog.

Forest pansy has been bred to have purple leaves (in certain light conditions in certain seasons) to add interest when it isn't in bloom. The catch is, it is less able to handle cold weather and snow storms then the wild version.

I'd forgotten about the hardiness issues, I used to have two, one established one was killed outright years ago in a cold winter, -21F I believe. And it's a cultivar selected here in TN.

FWIW my Forest Pansys all hold their color quite well throughout the summer.

ColoadoLime is in Colorado, zone 5. What are her chances for a successful long-term experience with Forest Pansy?

off green redbud are extremely variable in my z5 MI ... i dont know how that compares to CO ...

i consider all off them ... off green.. foo foo ... meaning potential PIA ...

it will be significantly micro climate specific ... winter winds and sun are as important as the rest of the year ...

great analogy ed ...poodles are mostly PIA also .. lol ...

the plain green ones are understory trees.. that can take a lot of shade .. if not full shade ... though do well in sun .. once established ... but the fancier leafed ones.. can also be variable in more shade.. including not coloring as expected .... like all variegated or off green plants ... though your sun sounds about right ...

dont know your experience level.. nor your budget.. nor the size of your property ... but i would suggest you either.. go green with the bulletproof standard .. or if you have the room.. one green.. and one foo foo ...

are you prepared.. to lose the expensive foo foo one ... odds could be high ... if your not willing to take the loss with a shrug of the shoulders.. dont waste money on it ... all of us who collect the foo foo.. the exotic.. understand we start at a 75% of success.. and sometimes its as low as 50% ....

ken

Cercis canadensis, the straight species, is reliably hardy along the Front Range, good to zone 4. If Coloradolime is at a higher elevation, say in the mountains it'll be more risky. Forest Pansy is less hardy than the straight species, zone 5. It might be worth a try if your site has some wind protection and it could be planted in morning sun and afternoon shade.

The potential problems I see here are it handling our wind, dry air and temp swings. Make sure you wrap the trunk(s) from November through March to avoid sunscald and frost cracking.

I didn't think about the hardiness issue. Forest Pansy is becoming more popular, I am seeing it planted in more places.

Redbud is only reliable to zone 4 if it's from a northern source such as the MN strain.

'Forest Pansy' is not effective in flower making another factor where it does not equate to the typical species. Also regarding red-buds in general many people have trouble with plantings of these, the forums used to be peppered with people asking why their red-bud had died back or died outright. In my area (USDA 8, near Seattle) 'Forest Pansy' is rather often seen growing on a site for some years and then disappearing, as though it had faltered and been cut down. Of two planted on two different lots in my neighborhood some years ago one got maybe as much as 10 ft. across and then started to blight off, I think was cut down - and the other has gotten much bigger by now, still looks great.

And still looks quite purple, which seems exceptional for this late in the year. And we have been having some hot days, starting back in spring.

I remember driving up to Monticello in Virginia years ago when the tall trees had not yet leafed out and the understory was abloom with redbuds and dogwood. It was one of the loveliest sights that I have ever seen. It helps to remember that when one tries to grow one of these trees (albeit some kind of 'improved' cultivar) in a hot, dry, sunny place. There are cultivars (Cercis condenses var. texensis 'Oklahoma' for example) that are way better suited for sun, wind and dryness than the straight species, but these trees originate as understory trees in summer humid climates. I have planted several species of Cercis mostly as fond remembrances of childhood, but they really don't shine here and I have gotten rid of most of them. Even C. occidentalis, which is native here, isn't a great garden plant when left to its own devices.

I've read that the forest pansy is finicky and not as hardy as the standard redbud. I like the idea of of purple foliage but not at the cost of a delicate tree. I'm zone 5 with occasional zone 4 temps...

Splaker, I have a Minnesota strain of the standard redbud. It has survived something like 10 years here (including one winter that hit -23 during a week that didn't get out of the single digits and most winters it hits at least -17.) It looks good, though occasional small twig dieback, and blooms well. I've seen other redbuds planted in this part of the world, probably not MN strain, and they have more dieback than mine, even in 5b where I work. Forest Pansy doesn't stand a chance for you - I wouldn't plant it colder than zone 6 based on what I've seen of it and where it does well.

NHBabs, just came across this vendor from Ontario where I live (but they are south of us). Info says Zone 5 (which is U.S. Zone 6) - why would they sell these if they are likely to be damaged or outright die? It'd survive this winter, that's for sure. Hasn't been below 10F more than once this year... with lots of mid teens, 20s even 30s lows...

http://www.ontarioplantsource.com/deciduous-trees/forest-pansy-redbud.html

Well, I assume that they sell them because they are so close to 3 of the Great Lakes, so that they are within 20 miles or less of water on 3 sides and within 5 miles of Lake Erie. That makes a difference since the large areas of water will buffer temperatures considerably most winters. I grew up in Cleveland, and during the really cold winter a couple of years ago, it made it down to -11F while areas farther from the lakes throughout the midwest were getting to -20F to -40F. Officially the part of Cleveland (Lake Erie shore) where I grew up is zone 6, along with many other areas of the US north coast. Similarly, where I work now is within 10 miles of the Atlantic, and although only 40 miles away, it is a full zone warmer than I am. Which is a long way to say that probably a good percent of their customers are in the equivalent of USDA zone 6.

I may push zones for perennials that are usually covered by snow, but I've learned that for taller, long-lived woody plants that sooner or later a bad winter will arrive and kill parts or all of the plant. A half dead tree is pretty ugly, and though it may regrow, IME it won't recover its original shape. I love redbuds, so I looked a long time to find a MN strain tree that I figured would have a reasonable chance of living out its full life in reasonable shape in my zone.

good point... I am 40 miles from Lake Huron as the crow flies. Too far to get much of a moderating effect from the Great Lakes. But you are right. I am in a small hamlet north of Toronto. There are pockets in Toronto (which sits on the shores of Lake Ontario) where I believe you could get away with planting a magnolia grandiflora! So some Z7 micro pockets. It's amazing the variation that occurs.

It can be 10 degrees or even colder at night between where I live and the city.

The other thing is, botanists who study plants study the species and come up with facts about the species. Lots of newer cultivars haven't been around long enough to know how long they live and how tall they get. Thus it is common practice to take facts that we know about the species and just "cut and paste" them into the description of the cultivar. To be fair, this usually works out fine. Forest Pansy redbud is one of those situations where it doesn't.

A friend here in the lower Hudson Valley (6b, protected site) lost her 6 forest pansy redbuds in the terrible winters we had recently. She was thrilled, however, as she hadn't realized how totally sun-blocking their big leaves are. So it all worked out for her...

In this area, I have noticed a lot fewer forest pansies for sale in nurseries after the '13 and '14 winters than before. Guessing that the (unfortunate) public lust for purple trees drove garden centers to sell them in zone 5. That FP is not a legit Z5 plant has been documented in the literature for a while. It is an overrated plant too, so no loss in my opinion. Outside of FP, I have a couple redbud cultivars that had no issues with the -18F lows.

Seems that when some random trait (purple in this case) is increasingly selected for, the resulting plant suffers in other ways (less hardy, less disease resistance, less vigorous, etc). Not every instance, but more often than not.

Forest Pansy Redbud vs Eastern Redbud: Are They Similar?