Those few days of 90+ temperatures followed by excessive rain were certainly less than ideal for a newly planted tree, but the nursery's assertion that this caused the tree to re-enter dormancy is, imho, absurd. Whatever is wrong with this tree existed when you bought it. Redbuds are strongly tap rooted trees and it's very possible that the tap root was severely damaged when the tree was first dug. Since the feeder roots emerge from the tap root, damage to the first means great difficulty in establishing them. This is also a grafted variety and something may have happened to the union between graft and understock - not terribly likely in a tree of this size, but... I'd totally agree with arktrees that it's likely a goner and that there's no point in waiting until next spring to see what happens. I'm sure this was an expensive purchase. Portions of it are already dead as evidenced by the lack of green cambium tissue. Even if some of the lower portion is technically alive next spring, the tree will hardly be worth what you paid for it. A reputable nursery would replace it now.

What you had was a mutant Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, cultivar 'Hibotan'. It has no green chlorophyll, so other pigments are visible, causing the red color. It has no way to feed itself, so it is grafted onto rooted stock, typically a Hylocereus. The 'ruby ball' cannot survive on its own. Since it has rotted, all you are left with is the relatively uninteresting root stock. Gymnocalycium mihanovichii cv. 'Hibotan'

I don't grow these chlorophyll-free plants, some say that they are short-lived but I don't know if that applies to all of them or if it is the combination of this Gymnocalycium species with the Hylocereus stock that has a limited lifespan. I once degrafted a dark purple one, and it looked happy, but I would not try that with a completely red plant. So, the "broken off balls" (offsets) should be grafted, not rooted. I hope they are still attached to the mother plant, they need to be in good condition for the graft to succeed. Anyway, if I would make my own grafts of a "ruby ball" on a tough stock I would try Opuntia humifusa (or the variant O. compressa). That one is probably the hardiest of all cacti, and it does not seem to induce as much offsetting as some other grafting stocks. Echinopsis/Trichocereus species are often used too, they are relatively hardy. Three less hardy alternatives are Selenicereus, Harrisia and Myrtillocactus geometrizans. I have only tried various Opuntia, Selenicereus grandiflorus, Pereskiopsis spathulata and a Hylocereus (the two latter is not useful in this case). There are many good places that describes the process: http://www.cactus-art.biz/technics/Grafting_on_opuntia_compressa_index.htm http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6799 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPy_01OSDUg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bda1k09CqaM (in Dutch, but it shows the technique) This one can be of interest to you ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nQYJ7PmQEQ Be prepared for a few failures, it takes a while before you get everything right. Now is not the best time of the year to do this, the plants need to be growing. Late spring/summer is better.

> Posted by dandy_line > If yours never freeze down then they are continually growing > and are going to fall over eventually. Mine is young. See my first posting in this thread, dated Jan 13. > Isn't a flower bud on March 1st a little strange? Has been producing them continuously since late Dec. > Maybe it's Aster Yellows virus. No, but the article (thank you for it) raises in my mind the possibility of insects as cause; i.e. that the failure location on any collapsed stem is the spot where bitten by some insect.