Everything is green here, in May. Flower and vegetable gardens are in full swing, and tractors are in the fields, baling hay. But in late March or early April, when it seems the sky and woods will always be the same dreary shade of grey, the eastern redbud is one of our first signs of the hope of spring.
The purple blossoms fill the woods overnight, scattered with the white of the occasional wild plum, cherry, or dogwood, and after a warm rain or two, the spring grass lends a complementary green. Trees, bushes and brambles start to bud out, and before long there is nothing but growth and birdsong. The eastern redbud then retreats gracefully, going unnoticed until fall, when clusters of seedpods hang below its heart-shaped leaves.
This is a beautiful tree, would probably make great shade in the yard. In thick woods, it sometimes gets very tall (up to 40-50 feet, according to my older tree book), and the blooms seem more sparse, then. Other places, it lives in the understory, and takes on an umbrella shape. The trunk is not thick. The seedpods are plentiful, legume-like, but not as long or large as the pods of the locust-tree, and they dry flat and brown. The leaves are large and heart-shaped. We do have one redbud here that I have seen not bearing seedpods, so I'm wondering if there are male and female trees.
Something about it reminds me of the catalpa tree. Must be the leaves, and the feel of "cool shade" when you're near it.
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