Cercis canadensis 'Covey'

Does anyone grow or know this one? Would it end up like the hanginghomedepot Salix?

MathWhiz:

Very different plant than your "Cousin It" willow.

Cercis canadensis 'Covey' (Lavender Twist™) is a nice redbud that will vertically grow as tall as you stake it (like your Salix) and then weep downward. I have seen pictures of the parent plant, and it reminds me of a broad contorted Morus alba 'Chaparral' or one of the spreading pendulous crabapples.

Lavender Twist™ can be a vigorous plant, depending on your cultural situation. I have planted several of these, and visited with numerous nurserymen growing this plant in the field as well as in containers. Left alone, it will be a rather dense cascade of stems at the height of your purchase, which may widen with time from new growth at the top of the cascading stems.

Imagine a closed umbrella, stood upright on its handle. You could never touch it, and the spokes would get longer and grow along the ground. You could "open" the umbrella partially, and create a wider plant initially that will continue to grow downward to the ground out at the tips. Finally, "open" the umbrella fully and generate a very wide almost mushroom cap-like habit eventually.

I believe there are endless possibilities of form that could come from Lavender Twist™, limited only by the gardener's imagination. Because of its vigor, it could be grown in the open; against a wall; along a path; in a corner; etc. It doesn't need to behave symmetrically, as is typically the wont.

Sitting here, looking out my front windows at my plants along the porch, it finally strikes me that Lavender Twist™ might best be considered a slightly less vigorous partner in behavior to the weeping/pendulous larch (can't remember if it is now considered L. decidua 'Pendula' or L. kaempferi 'Pendula' or something else these days).

I have seen it at the PDN gardens and it can get quite large. The one I saw was planted on a berm and had to have support because it was so wide spreading. Definitely unique looking- not symmetrical like Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula'.

Thanks Smarty Pants and Chamthay...I think I may try it..although I have little extra room I can alwyas find a place for something new. SP..I am understanding that if I don';t stake it..it will not grow as large..correcto?

Correctamundo.

It may gain height, albeit slowly, since it will have copious buds along its pendulous/weeping stems, including at the top of each stem. These will grow more stems that will "layer" on top of those they emerge from, and continue to weep on over.

I have seen this plant available with a staked height to 3', and all the way up to 8-10'. That's really a different look and result from one to the other. You have to decide what you are after for your landscape.

You could determine this by placing a device of known height where you want the plant; measure its shadow; set up a proportion....or invite an itinerant SP to do it for you.

I'd say the difficulty with this plant will be choosing "keeper" stems vs. what you'll want to remove as it grows. Not a bad problem to have, as many novelty plants you sometimes have to struggle just to keep alive.

Thanks..yes I do have an intinerant VSP.

I'm trying to wrap my old and slow mind around "SP" and "VSP" and am blushing at most of my attempts. Enlighten please. Ken

VV is "Smarty Pants" (in my mind anyway)..and naturally my DH is Very Smarty Pants (or at least he thinks so). VV just knows everything...so that is how he got named this!

Canaliculate:

LOL!

BTW, SP is what levilyla named me sometime ago (IMHO because FWIW I was providing TMI plant-wise?)

PLMK if this helps...ROTFLMKYBO.

Darn it; levilya got to you first.

I have two 8 foot tall C. Canadensis 'Lavender Twist' which are planted in front of my porch I planted them Spring of 2004. The first year they had small leaves and were pretty, but not outstanding looking. Last year their leaves were large and had a wonderful dense almost velvety texture. They are beautiful when flowering. But my plants have stiff pendulous branches that are some what brittle and snap off if you apply too much force. Over the last two years these plants haven't developed any new branches, although they are growing longer at the tips of the branches. Are you saying that the new growths are flexible the first year? My plants aren't anywhere near as flexible as a Weeping larch. I would save your money and buy plants the hieght that you want...

thanks...I will take this under advisement. SP will have to answer the brittle/flexible part.

Palaverer:

Brittleness comes with age, and not just with people. Young/new branches on Cercis are quite bendable and trainable, or you wouldn't be the proud owner of two eight footers!

Your weeping larch will have varying degrees of flexibility too, as does mine. I don't think I could bend many three to four year old (or older) stems much, but the one/two year stuff is pretty plastic. Thus, I've trained it along thirty-some odd feet of porch railing into a deciduous coniferous waterfall.

Something similarly cool could be concocted with C. canadensis 'Covey', capice?

SPP~~~Could we see a picture of the "waterfall"?

In its position, the weeping larch doesn't photo well out of leaf (like, now). My good pics are all slides.

If you can stand to wait until foliage emerges (any time now, with 70ºF/21.1ºC predicted by weekend) I'll post a picture. Of course, you may have to remind this young skull full of mush.

yeah right...full of mush. I will remind however.

I gave it a shot, even in its dormant state.

Here's what the weeping larch on ONE side of the front porch looks like.

Very, very COOL...like to see it in leaf.