Cercis

A multi-stemmed deciduous large shrub or small tree native to central China, grown for a dense early-spring display of rosy purple-pink pea-family flowers borne directly on bare branches and trunks before the leaves expand. The glossy, rounded heart-shaped leaves follow, and flat bean-like seed pods ripen and persist into winter. More shrubby and densely branched than the native eastern redbud, it makes a compact spring focal point for zones 6-9.

A small native multi-trunked deciduous tree of eastern and central North America, beloved for its dense early-spring display of magenta-pink pea-shaped flowers borne directly on bare branches before leaf-out. Heart-shaped foliage all summer, yellow fall color, and ecological value as host for 12 species of Lepidoptera larvae. Visited by the southeastern blueberry bee (Habropoda laboriosa) — a documented early-spring forager, though its true host-specialization is on Vaccinium (blueberry), not Cercis.

A western North American native large shrub or small multi-stemmed tree that erupts in clouds of magenta-pink pea-family flowers along bare branches in early spring — often before the leaves expand. The round, heart-shaped blue-green leaves with palmate venation follow, and flat 2-4 inch seed pods ripen burgundy-red and persist into winter. A drought-tolerant, butterfly- and bee-supporting native of dry slopes from northern California east to southern Utah and south to Arizona.