What it is
Texas Redbud (Cercis canadensis var. texensis) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. Spring's first fireworks - magenta flowers on bare branches, and yes, those flowers are edible. The glossy-leaf Texas variety laughs at limestone and drought.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it low once established, and give it well-drained, limestone-loving soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5-8.0. Space plants about 15 ft apart. Expect roughly Flowers in 3-4 years. Hardy native.
How it's used
Texas Redbud is used: flowers in salads; young pods cooked.
🔎 How to identify it
- Heart-shaped glossy leaves (Texas var. is waxier than eastern)
- Magenta pea-flowers straight from the bark in early spring
- Flat brown seed pods hang into winter
Edibility
How to grow & propagate texas redbud
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate texas redbud
Legumes resent transplanting — that taproot wants to go straight down — so sow them right where they'll grow once the soil has warmed. Soak hard-coated seed overnight to speed germination. As a bonus, this whole family pulls nitrogen out of the air and banks it in the soil, so wherever you grow them you're feeding next season's crop.
Growing texas redbud in Texas
Give it full sun to part shade and well-drained, limestone-loving soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Once it's rooted in, this is a low-water plant — overwatering does more harm than drought here. Water deeply to establish, then back off and let it prove how tough it is.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly flowers in 3-4 years before you're harvesting. The part you're after: flowers, very young pods.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.