You're inspiring me to pursue some dogwood. Do blackberry lilies (which I do have) need certain age to bloom or only lucky temperatures/rainfall?

Hi Irma,

Yes, you should do it! If you know anyone with dogwood, they are very likely to have seedlings all around the base. If you move them by lifting roots and soil together, they transplant very easily with little-to-no shock. The standard "water in well" applies for a couple of weeks. I can't remember for certain but I don't think I showed these much extra love after a short acclimation period. Dogwoods and redbuds do great in the shade of taller trees (or planted on the east side of a tall building).

I don't know the answer to the blackberry lilies question. Mine came from seed that Karalynn sent me last summer. This is their first full season as grown plants. I must say, they sailed through winter and a low of 23.5 without protection and without blinking. Some websites say that the bloom time is July through fall but I don't know if age, temp and/or water are required to get them going. When mine bloom, I will post pictures. (I was gonna say "if" but I'm willing them on!)

Carol

Walmart in Jacksonville has redbud trees for $9.99. They are about 4-5' tall.

Carol

This post was edited by love_the_yard on Mon, May 12, 14 at 22:22

Good luck with your plantings looks like they are getting along well. My father had a nice dogwood at his house that had been planted by the previous owner...that was in the Plant City area.

I tried redbuds a few years back. I planted 3 and one died each year for 3 years :-(. But I didn't know that they were understory plants so that might have been the issue especially since I'm on the boarder line zone wise.

again...good luck and happy growing.

Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry you lost your trees. Redbuds are easily susceptible to pests and disease. I think if you grow them in shade they may have a better chance? I love them for both their blooms and their heart-shaped leaves. I meant to get a picture this past spring when the new leaves came out but I missed it. There were all these tiny little lime-green hearts strung up and down the branches like dew drops. They were so cute!

Below is a link to the University of Florida info.

The Walmart trees are pretty affordable. The hard part might be planting the root ball between the roots of a bigger tree. (That is the beauty of starting with seedlings!)

If you get one, please post a picture.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Eastern Redbud