Cercis chinensis (Chinese Redbud) seeds

Very pretty, small flowering tree with deep pink, pea like flower clusters appearing on bare branches before the leaves in spring.  This lovely tree has a bushy habit and is easily trained as a shrub or standard and will happily live in a container making it very well suited to Bonsai.  The foliage is a rich green, providing a lovely summer canopy to sit under if grown as a tree, later turning buttery yellow in autumn.  This species is earlier to flower than other Cercis trees and naturally more compact.

A fantastic spring flowering alternative to the more common ornamental cherries.

Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Hardy Tree
Height: to 4m but can be pruned to any size
Flowers: March to April
Position: Sun to semi-shade and well drained soil

Packet of 30 seeds

RHS Award of Garden Merit

This plant/cultivar has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit because it has proved to be reliable in appropriate conditions and a good performing plant. For more information on RHS award of Garden Merit plants visit rhs.org.uk/plants

GROWING GUIDE 

Pre-sowing Treatment: Soak the seeds in water that starts off boiling then cools to room temperature for 24 hours or until the seeds start to swell.

Sowing Instructions: Sow at any time of year. Mix equal parts of good quality seed compost with vermiculite, perlite or horticultural grit and sow seeds very thinly on the surface, then just cover them with a layer of vermiculite, perlite or grit. Seal inside a polythene bag and place in the fridge for 10 weeks. After this, move to a propagator or other warm place and maintain an optimum temperature of 18-21C. Germination should take place in 1-3 months. Note: Germination can be very erratic, so sow thinly and prick out the seedlings as they become large enough to handle disturbing the rest of the compost as little as possible.

An alternative method is to sow in pots as above during late summer to early winter then place in a cold frame and let nature take its course as the seasons change with the seedlings emerging the next spring.

Growing Instructions: Transplant seedlings when large enough to handle into 7.5cm pots and grow on in a cold frame or nursery bed for a year or two then plant in their final position in sun or semi-shade.