Planted in fall 2017, from Sooner Plant Farm
'Oklahoma' has glossier leaves than the eastern redbud, and is a rounded small tree that flowers prolifically. I put it in the curved bed next to the garage wall.
> Don't let the soil dry out -- this wants constantly moist soil, even though it is a western adapted version of the eastern redbud.
It blooms in April, but then is quite late to leaf out, around Memorial Day.
The 'Oklahoma' tree I had in Connecticut was a stunner, just beautiful until its demise in a heavy snowstorm that split the trunk.
Redbuds are adapted well to Santa Fe, and I see old gnarly ones planted especially downtown.
This variety is very rounded and small, about 12 feet high, not the open, arching and somewhat leaning form of woodland redbuds. It is right next to the Chinese privet that is exactly the same form. Can I prune this to be more open and less rounded?
This tree struggled at first. It arrived with all its leaves at the bottom of the box, completely defoliated, but with a nice trunk structure.
Experiences:
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| June 12, 2021 - healthy, glossy leaves |
Then, the first two years I think I under-watered this poor little tree. Leaves were always wilted with a lot of yellow.
It seemed to really hate the heat and dry winds. I thought I was watering enough, but I wasn't, and in spring 2020 it had anthracnose and perhaps other infestations and I ended up cutting back the leader a lot.
But I started watering it way more -- drenching every other day, and by the end of 2020 the leaves were all sturdy and glossy and so much better looking.
In June 2020 it had recovered from whatever the problem was -- anthracnose, spider mites -- I sprayed it a couple times with dormant oil in spring, and I started using baking soda and dish soap spray, but mostly I think it just recovered.
I pruned off the infected leaves, and cut dead wood on each branch, making this a smaller tree by quite a bit.
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| Blooming in April 2022 |
In late April 2021 it was shining with brilliant flowers. In half shade with its branches up in the sunlight, it glows.
2021 was the first year it bloomed well. Late to leaf out, it finally had glossy, healthy looking leaves in early June. Still such a small tree. I'm having rouble getting a new leader established after all the rehab pruning.
In fall 2021 the big Spanish broom was removed and now the redbud, still small and shaggy looking, is no longer hidden.
It has a canker low on the trunk at soil level, and the stem is quite flattened there. It does seem to be closing around the wound. The tree itself is healthy looking, just small.
Flowering was sparse in 2023, but fall color was spectacular for the first time.
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| 2023 |
Here's some documentation on the anthracnose and spider mites that I treated in 2020:
In May 2020 only a few buds appeared on low branches, but did not open, and only a few leaves came out very late, and mostly just on the bottom branches, none at the top.
I think it has both spider mites and anthracnose. And maybe winter dieback?
I think it also had spider mites. It is susceptible in hot dry conditions. It must have had them last year, unnoticed, and over winter it left remnants of webs.
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| May 27, 2020 Signs of anthracnose fungus. Redbuds are susceptible. |
I think it also had spider mites. It is susceptible in hot dry conditions. It must have had them last year, unnoticed, and over winter it left remnants of webs.
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| May 10, 2020 |
I had seen these white cottony bits this spring and assumed the branches caught some cottonwood fluff -- there was so much floating through the air in early May. But no, I don't think this is cottonwood fluff.
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| May 10, 2020 |
My new iPhone SE camera is a wonder -- it was only through closeups in "portrait" mode that I actually saw how these are spidery webs and not cottonwood fluff caught in the branches.
Here's a picture from the prior fall, taken October 20, 2019. It shows speckling on the upper leaves -- I thought it was fall coloring, but redbud leaves usually color up solid lemon yellow, not mottled, and the leaves below were not speckled with brown like this. Spider mites? Anthracnose?
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| Leaves showing mottled speckling in late fall 2019 (October 20, 2019) |
A picture taken in early October (10/5) of 2019 before any fall yellow, showed nice solid green leaves, I didn't see any speckling on them. But was it there?
Control:
1. In May I sprayed dormant oil several mornings to coat and kill any spider mites. I see fine filaments of webbing in the bare upper branches, but not the cottony webbing. And I do not see any spider mites at all on the leaves. I need to be careful with dormant oil as the sun hits the leaves later in the day.
2. In late May I started spraying the leaves with baking soda (half teaspoon in a spray bottle of water plus drops of liquid dish soap to stick.) That may prevent anthracnose, but won't cure it once it is evident.
1. In May I sprayed dormant oil several mornings to coat and kill any spider mites. I see fine filaments of webbing in the bare upper branches, but not the cottony webbing. And I do not see any spider mites at all on the leaves. I need to be careful with dormant oil as the sun hits the leaves later in the day.
2. In late May I started spraying the leaves with baking soda (half teaspoon in a spray bottle of water plus drops of liquid dish soap to stick.) That may prevent anthracnose, but won't cure it once it is evident.