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cercis canadensis forest pansy

19 years ago

has anyone in z.5 grown this tree successfully for longer than 3 yrs.? i posted this same question on the tree forum and no one replied. disappointing.

there are beautiful specimnens of this tree at Mahoney's nurseries now but i fear it is not hardy here in z.5. the director of Tower Hill Botan. gdns. in Worcester,Mass. concurs. anyone else comment?

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Comments (5)

geoffbryant
19 years ago
The Royal Horticultural Society rates it as hardy in zone 4, but as always much depends on when you get your first and last frosts, the duration of extreme low temperatures, etc. Zone 5 is close enough to zone 4 that in isolated cold areas you could well be pushing the hardiness beyond its limits.

But that is probably, as it were, "cold" comfort, especially coming from someone in a climate that is the equivalent of your zones 9 or 10.

You may like to visit the link below to see a shot of 'Forest Pansy' that I took during our recent Southern Hemisphere autumn.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cercis candensis 'Forest Pansy' in autumn
mainegrower
19 years ago
I know I'm very late in replying to this, but... I've had a single Forest Pansy for 5 years here in Z5b. After last year's January combination of extreme cold, high winds and very low humidity, I was sure it would not survive - there was not a sign of emerging leaves until early June, but after that it put on tremendous growth, no doubt helped by a summer of frequent rain. Anything that survived last year I would say is fully hardy in Zone 5.
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We have two that we planted in 2000 along our western property line in a bed that is raised above a seasonal ÂdryÂ creek bed. (man-made for the occasional really wet winters.) They get almost full day sun with a 6 ft. fence to the back of them, a 50ft. tall Western Red cedar to the south, a 60ft. Douglas fir to the north and open lawns to the east. Our soil is sandy/loam. In summer, they are watered via underground sprinkler system; each has a ÂbubblerÂ head near the trunk. They are approximately 15 ft. tall now and almost as wide. We bought them for their wonderful leaf color, but IÂm not as impressed with their fall color, which is rust red. But I will say that the fall color is certainly a nice contrast to the many gold/yellow colors of surrounding trees. I have seen pictures of the wonderful blossoms on these trees, but all my redbuds (besides the two Forest PansyÂs, I have three green CersisÂ and a Cersis Chinensis) only have fuchsia buds in spring that open into insignificant flowers. The leaf shape and color and the interesting tree shape (more rounded) more than make up for the lack of appealing flower and fall color. Enjoy! S.
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Cercis canadensis is naturally an understory tree, performing best in partial shade and a moist (but not soggy) soil, but they are adaptable. However, this summer was unusually hot and even woody plants that enjoy full sun showed stress. If the rooftop location is windy, that would have a further drying effect on the leaves. If the tree is still basically in good health, it will produce a new crop of leaves. Just make sure the container has drainage holes and that the growing medium is moist, but not overwatered and drains well so the redbud doesn't have "wet feet."
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And honestly the cypress just might be too tall for that usage. I mean those things get tall! It may be all out of proportion. Again, it may depend upon how large your bed is going to be. With all three of those plants I'm picturing a bed at least 10 metres in diameter? The shape of the bed depends upon its surroundings. If you could supply a pic of the area, that might help. Here's one rough idea. The various groundcovers, shrubs, etc. tie the design all together. They could be fairly low - between 20 to 60 cm high. They also provide a 'buffer zone' filling in between the 'anchor' plants and if and when the anchors plants become really big, they can be reduced in size or moved. I'm not at all familiar with plants that grow in your region, so you'd have to consult local nursery about the Redbud. Instead of that, I'm thinking Bay laurel, oleander (tree form), or Olive would take the Mediterranean conditions well? Or maybe a small citrus, Med Fan palm? And for the lower-growing plants, I would plant 'masses' of maybe boxwoods, Dwarf Pittosporum, Dwarf nandina, Indian hawthorns, sages, lavenders, rosemarys, succulents....I would look especially for evergreen plants for year-round appeal. I don't know whether these suggested plants are overused and too 'cliché'. The 'mulched' area could be decomposed granite or pebbles. To push it 'over-the-top' as a real focal point, you could work in some large boulders or even statuary.
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sybilkrizinski
19 years ago
I am late too but I have tree pansies and have had them for
10 years. Last year the largest of the three started
struggling and I lost half of it. They are gorgeous.
gillespiegardens
19 years ago
I have one 3 yrs old in zone 6... its an incredibly beautiful tree. I am glad to know it is hardy to zone 5.
Our winters here the past few years have been milder than normal and almost feel more like zone 7. I have been wondering about my forest pansy and some other plants/trees etc that i have acquired the past few yrs and how they will fare when our typical winters resume.
i wonder why the 10 yr old tree mentioned began to struggle. that would be good general info to know.
amester
18 years ago
I was first shown the Forest Pansy by a landscaper friend of mine here in Denver and fell in love. I started the search for one, but my two favorite (and very reputable) nurseries very vehemently advised me against it - same thing, that they would grow for a few years and then inexplicably have problems or just literally fall over. They said if I wanted to do it to make sure to find a sheltered spot and be ready to really baby it. I am more a fan of unfussy plants so I went with amur maples and a serviceberry instead. I'd say redbuds in our zone may be a roll of the dice - do you feel lucky?? :)

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