day temps are mostly irrelevant.. its all about night temps right now...

we are equivalent in zone.. my forsythia.. ALWAYS the first thing to bloom.. are just enlarging buds... not even blooming yet.. and their roots are a lot more shallow that a tree...

low night temps.. keep the soil cold.. which can keep deeper roots dormant ...

the best check.. is on your drive to work.. or the store.. do you see anyone elses RB blooming.. that is when you think about your ... subject to whatever you did to it last year.. moving it.. etc... that can also delay budding.. or missing a flower season ...

btw.. the other real early one is star magnolia... and mine did open yesterday ....

ken

Thanks. This is the first year I’ve had them. I have another 5 weeks to return if need be, I’ll keep an eye on them

I doubt you'll need to return them. Let us know when they leaf out for you.

Two days ago my little redbud looked exactly like yours. Yesterday afternoon I could see buds swelling.

I see a flower bud on one of the stems pictured.

Too soon to worry.

But you do have a bud so no need to worry, either.

A couple of my cultivars of Cercis started flowering about 2 weeks ago and got nipped by a freeze. They stalled a bit and have only now begun to leaf out.

My later flowering vareties are blooming just fine right now, no leaves at all just yet.

I also have a few native Cercis that have finished blooming and are almost fully leafed out.

I've had red buds for a number of years and know that they are a very strong plant.

Your winter this year was brutal I think. There is growth appearing, you have time for a return.

You might take your thumb nail and scrape off just a very small bit of bark, if you see green you should be ok. If no green, perhaps not.

Good luck!

the flower buds enlarged in the last few days... still not open though...

no sign of leaves...

how about an update..

ken

Still looking rough. Crispy, too.

I still think they look fine and I think you have very small buds. Couple of warm days and you'll know for sure.

truly abused transplant RBs can die back to the ground.. and come back from the roots ...

second pic way up top.. those look like flower buds.. did they ever bloom.. or get bigger ..

mine still arent technically open for bloom

ken

@ken. Not much change to the buds above

might be a goner

Give them more time.

I'm watching this thread with great interest. I bought a redbud last year (first experience with one) and while it survived winter, it seems only the bottom two feet of it did! There there are flower buds which are opening and leaf buds too. The top three feet looks dead. Looks like I paid for a 5-foot tree and got a two-footer in the end.

Good luck with yours!

:)

Dee

I was driving around the neighborhood yesterday and the redbuds were all blooming beautifully. But I did not have good luck with the redbud I bought some years ago. Had it planted by the nursery and everything. A little after the one year warranty was up, the leaves started drooping and soon it died. From the looks of it, I concluded that it died of verticillium wilt, although I guess I can't be 100% sure. Anyway no more redbuds for me. How did this turn out?

One still has a chance. The other is dead as a door nail

Update: some branches looking good, others no life whatsoever.

give them a few more weeks.. then prune off the dead stuff...

mine officially opened and bloomed over the weekend ..

ken