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AgriLIFE
Extension -Denton County
306 N. Loop
288, Suite 222
Denton, Texas 76209-4887
March 26, 2008
FILL YOUR
LANDSCAPE WITH NATURAL BEAUTY
Contact: John
N. Cooper, County Extension Agent-Horticulture, 940.349.2883
e-mail:
jn-cooper@tamu.edu
It’s time to celebrate the rites of spring with the top flowering
native ornamental tree in North Texas. Bring your family to the biggest
redbud blow out on earth, Saturday, April 12 in Denton and take a redbud
home to grace your business, residence, school, park, or place of
worship. Redbuds have put on a great show this spring but many suitable
landscape sites remain to be planted.
Through legislation sponsored by State Senator Jane Nelson and former
State Representative Mary Denny, Denton was unanimously proclaimed
“Redbud Capital of Texas” by both houses of the 73rd Texas State
Legislature in 1993. Denton’s love for the redbud goes back to the
early 1930's when then Texas Woman’s University President L.H. Hubbard,
and Director of the Department of Rural Arts, Fred Westcourt, launched a
campus-wide beautification program featuring redbuds. The campus
crusade sparked a city-wide redbud planting campaign and seven decades
later, the pride of Denton lives on.
Over
the past decade, as the citizens of Denton have renewed their love
affair with this gorgeous native ornamental tree, over ten thousand new
redbuds have been planted in the city to renew and restore their former
glory. Today, redbud is the third most popular street tree in Denton,
and trees of all ages come into full bloom throughout the city each
spring.
Three
species of redbuds are native to Texas. Two are native to Denton
County, while the third, Mexican Redbud, Cercis canadensis var.
mexicana is native to only seven counties of the Trans-Pecos
region of far west Texas.
The
native range of the Eastern Redbud, Cercis canadensis var.
canadensis runs from Wise County in the west and extends east
through Denton County all the way to the Carolinas on the Atlantic
coast. The native range of the Texas Redbud, Cercis canadensis
var. texensis runs from Collin County in the east and sweeps west
through Denton County and south down through San Antonio and then
balloons out west to the Devil's River in Val Verde County near Del Rio.
The
ranges of the Eastern Redbud and the Texas Redbud overlap in only 26
Texas counties, including Denton, running north to south from
Gainesville to New Braunfels. Where their ranges cross, hybrid swarms
occur so traits of both species can be found in the same tree and
combinations in between. Truly, Denton is at the heart of redbud
country.
To
celebrate the beauty of the redbud, Saturday, April 12 has been set
aside for the “15th Annual Denton Redbud Festival” which will
be held at the Denton Civic Center in beautiful downtown Denton from
10:00 a.m. until 4 p.m. This major educational event is sponsored by
Keep Denton Beautiful each year to create awareness and excitement about
spring gardening and beautification programs. Our Denton County Master
Gardeners will be there with an “Ask the Expert” booth ready to answer
all your spring gardening questions.
The
festival will have over 60 exhibits featuring redbud trees for every
size pocketbook plus other native plants of many kinds both herbaceous
and woody, garden supplies, services, equipment, sculpture, yard art,
activities, demonstrations, gardening information, and loads of fun
festival food. The Kid’s Zone will be open all day featuring a bounce
house, a giant slide, face painting, rock climbing, recycling relay
races, and fun environmental activities!
Redbuds bloom best in full sun but they grow naturally in small openings
in the native oak forest canopy so they tolerate light shade conditions
quite well. They grow in any soil, sandy or clayey, acidic or alkaline
and being native, are completely drought-hardy, cold-hardy, and
resistant to insects and diseases.
The
Eastern Redbud is the largest and fastest growing of the three native
Texas species reaching a mature height of 20 feet, compared to 15 feet
for the Texas Redbud, and 10 feet for the Mexican Redbud. Every
landscape in North Texas can accommodate these spring beauties so plan
to take a few home from the festival this spring and enjoy them for
years to come.
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The
information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to
commercial products or trade names is made with understanding that no
discrimination is intended and no endorsement by AgriLIFE Extension is
implied.
______________________________________________________________________________
Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic
level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin. The
Texas A&M University System U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the
County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.
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