I have many favourite trees, if I try and think of not-favourite trees, that is more of a struggle. I cannot say that Cercis are my very favourite tree, but they consistently in my top 5.
I currently have (or had) three Cercis trees. Two Cercis are planted in the garden: a Cercis candensis 'Lavender Twist' that I bought in 2012. This tree had an unfortunate incident where a dog got in to the garden and snapped it off close to the ground. Thankfully it resprouted quite quickly and is now a nice looking tree.
Before I knew this tree was going to survive, maybe slightly hastily, I bought a replacement for it: a Cercis Siliquastrum. The consequence of this haste is that I now have two beautiful trees. This tree has thrived in the garden and is now a goodly size. She flowers well every Spring and whilst I feel I do not mention either of these trees very often, they are important to me and the garden.
I do mention my Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' more often. This has spent years in a pot, some years in the ground and then more years in a pot again. I have had this tree since 2006 and you can see it is not the biggest. It is quite brittle and seems to snap easily but it is still growing and still making me happy. I think about planting it in the ground again every now and again, maybe I will one day.....
In 2021 Cercis canadensis 'Eternal Flame' won the RHS Plant of the Year Award. This is a fine looking tree/shrub that has beautifully coloured foliage changes colour throughout the growing year. As the year progresses there will be different coloured leaves on the plant. I wanted one of these as soon as I saw it, it was full of promise and looked wonderful. It was also rather expensive so I decided to wait a while before purchasing in the hope the price would come down.
Then last year I saw a nice offer that would give me a reasonable discount and made it just a bit pricey rather than eye-wateringly costly. Reader, I purchased.
and recieved and email saying 'very sorry but the stock we have is not good enough to send out - you can have a refund or wait another year'.
Well this was a bit of a blow and I considered briefly what I should do. I decided to wait a year, I wanted this plant and it was not getting any cheaper. I was also grateful that they had decided to wait for better stock, I would always rather wait for a better quality plant than have something doomed to fail.
A year passes and just at the point I start thinking 'I wonder if I need to chase that Cercis', I get an email confirming dispatch. A couple of days later in the middle the current heatwave the Cercis 'Eternal Flame' arrived. It looked a little warm so I put it into the shady Courtyard Garden, gave it a drink and whispered words of love to it.
Most of the foliage soon looked a little better, but the newest leaves are a bit crispy. A few leaves had also got detached and this worried me.
Despite the current heatwave, it is now heading towards Autumn, so I thought I would check my other Cercis and see if they are dropping the first of their leaves too, and they are. So I decided the leaf-drop is part-shock and part 'its later than you think'.
I shall keep Eternal Flame in a pot for now and let it overwinter in the Courtyard. I'll decide next year if it will get planted out into the garden yet or not.
I shall also keep singing The Bangles 'Eternal Flame' whenever I see this tree or think about it. It is rude not to.
Wish it well and let's hope it thrives.
Take care and be kind.