Cercis canadensis – Redbud Bonsai – “Ace of Hearts” – Colorado Rocky Mountain Bonsai

Photo courtesy of the Denver Botanic Garden.

I always wanted to try a Redbud tree as a Bonsai tree. I tried digging up several seedlings from my parents yard in Missouri and brought them home but they always died out here in Colorado. There are some really neat Redbuds in the city where my parents lived and I was convinced they would make a really great Bonsai. These old trees had lots of deadwood on them and looked really old and gnarly and they looked great when blooming. I tried pulling some larger Rebuds from my parents yard but could not budge them out of the yard. I did discover that Redbuds bud back really well at my parents home. There was one growing on the corner of their yard and was blocking the sidewalk. I cut that tree off right at the ground only to find it growing right back up on my next visit! I never could kill it off.

Redbuds do live in the Denver metro area and seem to do well. The only time I really see them is in the spring when they are blooming. Pretty hard not to notice them when blooming! My only chance at having a Redbud Bonsai tree would be to buy a tree from a nursery. Several nurseries in the metro area carry Redbuds as do the larger box stores. There are of course several different varieties to pick from with all of them have a couple of the same problems between them. Problem number one is they all have large tap roots. Problem number 2 is that the leaves are really large and reports say they cannot be reduced in size either with traditional Bonsai techniques. So my dreams of have a Redbud Bonsai tree was not looking to good.

I was out one day making the rounds of the local nurseries and stop at a very small nursery and could not believe my luck. They had 3 Redbuds, which is not uncommon but these trees had very small leaves around the size of a half dollar coin. They had a bamboo stick in the pot and there were no branches on the side of the stake. I bought one of the trees and brought it home. The tree was around 6 feet tall. It turns out that this tree was a chance seedling out of thousands growing at a nursery. It turns out is was a miniature or dwarf tree. The nursery developed this seedling and it was introduced to the world as: Cercis canadensis ‘Ace of Hearts’. Most commercial trees are grafted. ‘Little Woody’ is another form of miniature or dwarf tree that should be great to use a Bonsai tree.

The following spring I decided that the tree was way to tall and it would need chopping. I removed the stick and chopped it back. The tree responded with buds everywhere. The tree was allowed to grow unchecked for another 2 years and was chopped back again. As before the tree budded back out and it was time to start training the tree as a Bonsai. Branches were wired and growth was trimmed back. The tree was still in its nursery pot. The lower bark was now starting to mature as well. The leaves remained the same size as when it was purchased. The tree actually looked good when in leaf.

The tree was donated to the Denver Botanic Gardens around 3 years ago and is now under the care of International Bonsai Master Larry Jackel. I was asked to restyle the tree in an arching style. I agreed to do so and the tree was restyled and left to grow out. The following spring the tree was root pruned and the larger roots pruned off and the tree was returned to its nursery pot. The wiring was removed this spring and the branches stayed where they were wired. There are some minor wire marks which should resolve on there own in a couple of years. The tree was planted in its current pot by Larry Jackel and will be out on display at the gardens while it is blooming.

Future plans for the tree are to place it in a more appropriate pot for a deciduous tree and to continue its ramification. The tree winters in the Gardens cold winter greenhouse until spring.

Some information about the tree:

A Perfect Small Garden Tree– ‘Ace of Hearts’ Redbud by What Grows There

Ace of Hearts Redbud by Bold Spring Nursery

‘Ace of Hearts and Little Woody’ Redbuds by HortScience

CERCIS canadensis ‘Ace of Hearts’ by Learn2Grow

Cercis canadensis ‘Ace of Hearts’ by Missouri Botanical Garden

Vendor:

Bower and Branch New 04-01-2018 Note: Available in 2 sizes.

Gallery:

New Gallery of tree in leaf. 10-23-2019

This is the first year the tree has been grown under shade cloth in the summer. You can see that the shade cloth has made a big difference in the health of the leaves on the tree. This tree is a miniture Redbud named “Ace of Hearts”. There is one mail order nursery offering them for sale and you can find them at Sooner Plant Farms “Ace of Hearts‘.