Plant Min Zone: 5b
Plant Max Zone: 9a
Sunlight: Full Sun, Part Sun
Water / Rainfall: Average
Soil Quality: Average
Bloom Season: Spring
Flower Color: Magenta
Berry / Fruit Color: Green, Black
Spring Foliage Color: Green
Summer Foliage Color: Green
Fall Foliage Color: Yellowish Green
Evergreen Foliage: No
Winter Interest: No
Scented Flowers: No
Drought Tolerance: Medium
Wet-Feet Tolerance: Low
Humidity Tolerance: Medium, High
Wind Tolerance: Medium
Poor Soil Tolerance: No Extreme Soils
Height: 8' - 12'
Width: 6' - 9'
Growth Rate: Slow
Service Life: Extremely long: over 20 years
Maintenance Need: Low
Spreading Potential: Medium
Yearly Trimming Tips: Trim Shrub to Desired Size After Bloom in Late Spring or Summer: Blooms on Old Wood.
Plant Grouping Size: Specimen Planting of 1-3, Small Grouping of 3-5
Best Side of House: South Exposure, West Exposure, East Exposure
Extreme Planting Locations: Resistant to Rabbits
Ornamental Features: Emerges Early in Spring, Long Blooming Season, Multiple Seasons of Interest
Special Landscape Uses: Hedge Row
Possible Pest Problems: Deer
Plant Limitations: May get Occasional Winter-kill, Needs Thick Winter Mulch, Slow to Reach Mature Size
Don Egolf Redbud (Cercis canadensis 'Don Egolf') is a dwarf flowering shrub redbud native to China. It has the typical heart shaped green Redbud foliage and deep magenta flowers. The bark is more of a beige or light tan color with black buds. Flowering begins in April with flower buds starting on old wood all the way to the ground level. Flowering even occurs on very young plants only several inches tall. Because this is a Chinese species, no seed pods form like on native Redbuds. After many years, heights of 8 to 10 feet may be achieved on multi-stemmed plants. Culture conditions are pretty easy; just provide average garden soil, reasonable water, and mostly sun. In Eastern Kansas, typically our 40 inches of rainfall is sufficient without extra water if planted in good soils. Don Eagles Red has been growing in our display garden for over 10 years blooming consistently with no problems. It survived -16 degrees F and a week of single digit highs in February, 2021 with no damage to flower buds.