[John]

When we arrived at the Rothschild Memorial Garden in Israel I was able to photograph this surprisingly perfect standard specimen of Cercis siliquastrum. I say surprisingly because I don't think I have ever seen one before with a straight trunk never mind a single trunk.

[Hilary]

This was to be one of my "Trees in the streets of Corinth"
There are about ten straight ish Judas trees lining the pavement outside the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul.
They were planted many years ago, in the early 1900s I would say, and have quite strong thick trunks.
It is wonderful when  Easter coincides with their flowering period.
I have planted one in the back yard of the block of flats and it is still very thin and weedy.
Since I don't have a digital photo of the ones outside the church here is another one and you can guess where I took it

[John J]

We have had a Cercis siliquastrum for several years now and it has flowered religiously (ouch!) every spring without fail. This year, for the first time ever, it has begun to have a second flowering. The photo was taken today, 13 September.

[Alice]

From trips around the Peloponnese I remember the glorious sight of flowering C. siliquastrum in April. I recall them having a "tree-like" shape, though I couldn't tell if they had a single trunk. On Paros, our two specimens seem very reluctant to grow upwards - it is the wind, I think. Even after much cajoling and threatening they still look like shrubs. We have recently planted a straight-trunked one in a slightly more sheltered position and will keep an eye on its behaviour.

[JTh]

I have only seen the single trunk kind in our area, it is one of my favourite trees. I planted one a few years ago, and it has behaved very well, although it wants to lean a little, so I have tried to straighten it while it is still young; it is easy to see that the prevailing winds are coming from the north-east. When we arrived around Easter this year, some of the leaves had already started come, but it was still a joy to see it in bloom.

[Umbrian]

I too love this tree and its ability to survive and produce flowers is amazing. In our area I have seen several specimins in our local town that were obvioulsly getting too big for the small gardens in which they were planted. These trees had been reduced to almost nothing by severe pruning but were still producing flowers from the few remaining stubs of branches and even from the trunk itself. A rather ugly sight in fact but illustrating the tree's propensity to survive no matter what.

[MikeHardman]

I bought four small specimens this spring. They spent too long in pots waiting for me to get their planting area ready. But they hung in there, and they have been planted for a couple of months now. They are surviving, but the only new growth is from sprouts from the base. I am leaving these as they are, to act as 'nurse branches' for a while. I hope and expect new growth and blossom from the main part of the trees next year.

One of the nice things about Cercis is that they start to flower when young. My plants are only 1.3m tall and they put on a reasonable show while still in their pots. I'm looking forward to seeing them perform again in the coming Spring. And I shall look forward to seeing them develop their trunk(s) structure. I planted one for Mum & Dad in Surrey many years ago and enjoyed watching that develop its structure over the years as well. It was in a sheltered spot, and ended up as a pair of trunks with nice gentle curves. It always flowered very well, and was a delight to everybody. Even the pinky-purple carpet of fallen petals had its charm.

[Alice]

I understand that Cercis siliquastrum resents being transplanted.
Perhaps that's why your four specimens are sulking at the moment, Mike.

[David Bracey]

C siliquastrum is a road-side planted tree on the A7 Valence to Spain autoroute. Colours range from almost white to deep purple. Flowering time also varies over a 2-3 weekperiod.

[MikeHardman]

Alice - thanks, yes, could be

[David Bracey]

Cercis siliquastrum has flowers which emerge directly from the branch/stem.  This is known as cauliflorous.
Another tree which has the same characters is Brownea macrophylla.  Pic taken in Panama

[MikeHardman]

John - re your post of 13sep - a couple of mine have the odd flower now, like yours. (I also have a first flower of the season on Viola odorata! and a few extra flowers on my kumquat)

[paololariccia]

I have recently seen on a trip to Crete from Italy some splendid trees and I was told that they were of the cercis siliquastrum family. The variety we have in italy has blus-lilla flowers while the one I have seen in Chania and Heraglion has pink flowers with red interiors. Can anybody give me the name of the variety? I would very much like to grow one of this trees. Can they be bought and sent to Itasly or could I have at least some seeds? Thank you very much to anyone giving some information.

Paolo.Lariccia@gmail.com

[oron peri]

Paolo,

The tree in your photo is Bauhinia variegata and not Cercis siliquastrum.

If you meant Cercis; it has a white form which is more shruby, pink form in the Mediterranean and deep pink/purple in central Asia.

[MikeHardman]

Paolo,

There is a discussion on Bauhinia here -
http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=345.0

They grow easily from seed, and should flower in only a few years.
You should be able to buy plants in Italy (now you know the name).
Well worth growing (as is Cercis siliquastrum, too).
Good luck.

Mike