Lawd, I remember when I heard my first Wisteria explosion! Amazing! I don't know if the Western Redbud behaves the same way as the Eastern, but we have to pluck a mess of redbud seedlings out of our perennial beds every year. No big deal in the lawn where they can be mowed down. Hey, Cuz'n Lucky! Did you get hit by any of that snow?

Oh fooey, guess I forgot to hit submit or something. Winter sowing will probably work but this method was about as fast and easy as it gets. I spring sowed some 3 years ago in a shallow, covered container after danger of frost was past placed in the shade. I had just picked the pods off the neighbor's tree. I dried them out, cracked the shells open, let them dry a bit more, then rubbed them with medium sandpaper 20X, planted as above, placed in the shade. The seeds were covered with about 1/4" potting soil. They germinated in less than 2 weeks. I got 27 sprouts or more, transplanted them into 2-liter soda bottles, top part with cap cut off, placed on the east side of the house. They were doing fine but took a beating when the house was painted. Then when fall came, I was too tired to plunge them all into the ground and lost them that winter. They take 7 years from seed to bloom. I learned about the sandpaper trick (don't go past the outer covering), the bloom time, and plunging them into the ground on another forum. If I had to do it again, I'd do the same thing except either start in the 2-liter bottles or plastic cups with baggies. This photo was taken April 24, 2007, I picked off these very pods a day or two later and others off the ground from that tree and another neighbor's close by and had them dried and planted within a week or little more. The seeds sometimes take a long time in nature because the outer shell is so hard, like a couple years or more but I have found volunteers around the yard now that I know what the leaves look like.

well???? ... if you have rogue seedlings around... be the seed ... how did ma nature sow them??? they fell to the ground.. most likely.. barley got covered ... and sprouted ... the following spring ... they were cold treated either hanging in the pod on the tree ... or on the ground ... or didnt actually need it ... i would just sprinkle them on some media in a pot ... barely scratching them in ... protect from vermin.. and stow the pot outdoors on the north side of the house... and let winter/ma nature do her thing ... which she is apparently pretty good at ... except for experimentation ... i dont know why you would add all kinds of variables .... though that is a good enough reason.. if you seek wisdom and knowledge ... ken

I spend the better part of my life pulling up Cercis (redbud) seedlings. As far as I can tell, it's impossible to make those seeds moribund!