New(ish) Trees at Christensen’s
Every year, there are new-to-us tree varieties that show up at Christensen’s. I wanted to take a moment and tell you about three that have shown up in the past year or so.
First, we have two new varieties of Redbud: ‘Flame Thrower’® and ‘Black Pearl’™.
‘Flame Thrower’® Redbud has some very unique foliage and color. In the spring, when it starts to leaf out, the leaves are a burgundy red color. During the season, the leaves will start to change to copper, orange, and yellow and finally finish off a bright green, creating the appearance of a multi-colored tree all year long. Along with the beautiful foliage, Flame Throwers will have the nice, purple, spring flowers redbuds are known for. The full-grown height and shape of the tree is 15’ to 20’ tall and wide.
In the spring, when leaves appear on the ‘Black Pearl’™ Redbud they are a dark, glossy, purple, making them appear almost black, hence the name Black Pearl. They also have nice, lavender-pink flowers in the spring. This tree grows a little bigger than the ‘Flame Thrower’, maturing at around 15’-20’ tall and 20’-25’ wide.
The last tree to highlight is the First Editions® ‘Gladiator’™ Crabapple. This is one of those trees that has been around since the mid-2000s but is new to Christensen’s. The ‘Gladiator’ is a narrow, oval-shaped crab (as you can see from the yard picture), with a mature height of 20’ and a width of 10’. Foliage is a bronze purple with bright, pink flowers in the spring. Since we're closer to fall than spring, we've included a sample of the pinks you'll see from the flowers. The 3/8” fruit is a reddish purple. The known benefits of the ‘Gladiator’ are listed as being excellent against scab, fire blight, cedar apple rust, and mildew.
I hope that I have helped broaden your knowledge of a few new(ish) trees available from Christensen’s for use in your next project.
