I like redbuds. They are great plants that fit into almost any yard and landscape. There are several great varieties, with improved darker colors, Aggie-maroon foliage ('Forest Pansy'), and even a weeping variety. These are clones or subspecies of the native Cercis canadensis. Then there are the Texas redbud and the Mexican redbud, with a tougher constitution to take drier climates of the central and southern part of Texas.
One of the greatest recent introductions is not a native, but a Chinese redbud (C. chinensis), and the one I'm most
familiar with is 'Avondale'. We have a specimen in the IDEA Garden (in the Tyler Rose Garden) that is in full bloom right now (hopefully the mid-20's predicted for this evening won't totally blight the flowers). This plant literally is covered stem to stern, trunk to tip with flowers. This is a short, compact tree, and apparently doesn't get quite as tall, as the native redbud does. Literature states it tends to have multiple trunks, and perhas that is the case, but 'Avondale' is grafted, and ours is a single trunk. There is another 'Avondale' in Tyler Rose Garden on the southern edge of the main rose garden area. If you are looking for a small specimen tree for an up-close location, check this one out.
Another Chinese redbud variety that is becoming more available is 'Don Egolf', a National Arboretum release. It has the same, as the National Arb. puts it, "stem to stern" blooming characteristic, but sets no seed. 'Avondale' on the other hand, sets an abundance of the typical legume pod wherever there was a bloom - a characteristic some find distracting. It doesn't bother met that much. 'Don Egolf' is reported to grow slowly to 9 feet tall, so is would another great choice for a specimen or accent plant in the landscape.
