mine .. in z5 MI.. bloomed 2 weeks ago ..

another lost year for you ... flower-wise ... but as long as the tree is alive.. there is always the future ...

any current pix??

ken

Thanks for the reply!

I'll post some pictures later tonight after work.

What would cause the tree not to bloom yet still be alive? Not a particularly bad winter. Some of the leaves did look a little wilted when I finally too possession of the home in late August. I tried to drip feed it water slowly for several days straight. And obviously it gets plenty of water during the winter here in Seattle.

Isn't the PNW having a pretty cold spring? I know that they had below normal temps, including some record snows, in March, while here in the Eastern 2/3rds we were basking in warmth.

Have other redbuds bloomed in your community, is it just yours that hasn't?? Maybe they're all delayed due to cool weather.

A lot of my Cercis (redbuds) have not leafed out yet. The C. chinensis have tiny leaves, most other none yet but the buds all look healthy (down here in Sonoma Co, CA).

Closeup shot of the tree as of 04.17.2012

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Looks like flowers to me.

They look fine to me.

And to me!

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. There seems to be a log of dead branches on the tree, a canker, and no one watered it all summer. I was thinking that a late bloom was caused because of that and the tree was slowly dying.

Now that it seems alright, it's on to planting my first garden!

Take off any dead wood and make sure it gets enough water and let it settle in and see what it does. If the dieback causes a weird shape, you can address that with some pruning once you get a real sense of how the tree is doing. Trees move more slowly than herbaceous plants and acting precipitously is generally not the best course of action. It is difficult to be patient sometimes but I think that is one of the gifts of trees and other woody plants - they teach us to be patient and let them solve many of their problems on their own!

Eastern redbuds are not an ideal tree for the PNW - a bit too damp in winter for its liking and never very warm in summer. Plagued by a number of fungal issues, they are generally not long lived specimens in this area. And they tend to bloom rather late into the spring -- mid to late April is right about on schedule for this slow to warm up area. In fact, I've often seen them in bloom as late as May here.

Gardengal can you grow C. occidentalis up there? That is our native California Cercis - much shrubbier in its natural form than canadensis. They deal fine with the wet winters but you may be cooler in summer than their liking. They come in both pink and white forms.

Tried a couple of the western redbuds once upon a time - my ex fell in love with them on a drive down to the Bay area one May. One succumbed to verticillium wilt within the year; the second one struggled for a couple of years longer then finally gave up.

I've been in the nursery biz here for the past 20 years or so and western redbuds have never been very common.....in fact I can't think of more than a couple of times I have ever seen them available locally. If I'd have to pick a redbud for this area, I'd go with Cercis chinensis 'Avondale' - for the most part, Asian species seem to do quite well in our mild, damp climate.

Yeah, doesn't surprise me. California natives in general seem to really need the hot summers and wet winters. Some (e.g. Fremontodendron) die if you so much as wave a hose anywhere in their direction in summertime. OP that 'Avondale' sounds like a good recommendation if your C. canadensis doesn't make it.