There is a very interesting relatively-new redbud that is truly a three-season tree and would do fine in Zone 6. It's
Cercis canadensis 'Carolina Sweetheart.'
It blooms in the typical spring season for redbuds (April, here in Zone 7) along the bare branches but it's the foliage that steals the show after that. The new leaves emerge a deep purple-red, fade to hot pink as they open and enlarge, then when they are about halfway to their mature leaf size the hot pink fades to clear baby pink (this is when the tree appears from a distance to be covered in pink flowers, rather like a flowering cherry but by then it is mid-May). As the baby pink fades to white, the leaf slowly develops a green center until by the time the leaf is full size it is green with a wide white margin.
Some sources claim that by late summer the leaf is entirely green, others say that it remains the variegated green/white until autumn when it all turns yellow.
The interesting part is that redbuds continue to put out new leaves through most of the growing season and so there will always be accents here and there of the three pink shades (purple -> hot pink -> baby pink.)
This tree was a joint breeding venture between North Carolina State University and Star Roses Nursery. They were actually aiming for a variegated purple leaved redbud (think 'Forest Pansy' with white added) but ended up with the best of both (purple and green and white) worlds by accident, supposedly.
A downside for some may be the height; it's a full size redbud which means it can ultimately get to 20-30 ft tall if allowed to.
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/a...is-nccc1-ppaf/
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
