Every spring in Alabama, I have seen this tree flower for maybe a week. I’ve never been able to get up close to one until yesterday. It was after art classes. I was going to see if the downtown art store was open. I need oil pastels. On an empty street, without even a parked car, sits a plot of unclaimed grass & in the middle of this patch of green among the cities grays, browns and red brick is THE TREE! And it’s bursting with pink!
Let me back up a bit, give you a little history on him. This tree is always spotted deep in the forests (? not sure that is the right name, its more like a bunch of tangled up trees that need a serious haircut) or on the side of a 3 lane Hwy. Sometimes its on someone’s property, but its always the property that you look at & wonder who would let their grass, ivy, bushes, trees, kudzu, mold, moss encompass their whole house? What does that one person, who lives in the most expensive part of town, do? Is it an old blind woman? If it were, doesn’t she have someone who loves her still? Why hasn’t her neighbors on either side offer to help uncover her house so that she can feel the sun…damn. Sidetracked.
That’s the kind of house that has THE TREE, always. To make myself feel better, I turn the owner of the house into a crazy man who would meet me at his door with a shotgun in one hand & beer in the other. He is wearing a ripped, stained t-shirt & smells strangely of patchouli & the great unwashed…Ugh.
I park on the side of the road, my children don’t even bother to ask what we are doing anyway, parked here. They know why. They know me. I’ve done this their whole lives. I used to carry my camera for events such as this. I have my iPhone.
Ok,ok…who out there in this big world, knows
the name of this tree?
2me4art 
Looks like a redbud to me!!
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You are #4!!! Thanks for your help!-amy
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I almost forgot! This is the tree we have in our front yard! Too funny!
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Does it ask the question, Why? like the one I photographed?
The branches were shaped YYYYYY :)-amy
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My tree is sooooooo strangely shaped! (Planted by a previous owner.) I spent a lot of time the last two years trying to at least cut out the dead branches….but it does ask the question Y!
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I see that they have dead branches that are difficult to reach here, which I think it has fallen out of favor with Southerners who are huge fans of boxwood, bradford pear- things that maintain their shapes & behave. I guess I like that its a bit of a bedhead tree. :)-amy
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I love a combination of very defined and neatly clipped mixed with a little disheveled mess here and there….!
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I am married to the very defined & neatly clipped southerner. I’m a former Vermonter that just plants & plants & hope the deer dont get it!
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I bet it is a beautiful combination!
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Well, my children are beautiful (says everyone who has any), so if that’s the result of the very defined & artist chaos, then yes. But, damn, I hate to see an azalea cut like a boxwood!:) amy
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Redbud!
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You are #3 in saying its a Redbud, so I think it must be so! I will read all about it. Thank you so much!-amy
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Yes! One of my favorite trees ever! Until I saw a Whitebud tree at our local botanic garden and I was even more infatuated.
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The whitebud is better then the pink??? I will google, because I can’t believe it! -amy
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Ok, I googled, I’m still a Redbud lover. The white is beautiful, but we have the Bradford pear, Dogwood & white azalea in the spring in Alabama… that pink & purple flower against such a dark bark really is striking to me. -amy
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Ah…I wish we had better luck with the azaleas….and I do love a Pagoda Dogwood! It is fun chatting with other garden lovers in other parts of the country…! Different zones…different perspectives.
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It is, where are you?
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I am in Nebraska!
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I agree – it’s a type of redbud. They’re beautiful trees in the spring!
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Redbud, someone else said that as well. I’m trying to see if I can root it…I guess I could just buy one.
I twisted a branch off, i feel so guilty, asked my husband to strip the ends off & stuck it in root booster stuff. The leaf buds have opened & continue to do so. So at least I know its happy. Thanks for the help. -amy
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I think it’s a redbud tree…so do an image-GTS and see if it matches up. BTW a redbud tree never actually shows up with red, oddly.
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I’ve never heard of an image-GTS… I will try it, cool if it works. I google most things, but images??? Redbud tree. This tree has one less branch that I had to twist off (ouch) it is in a vase with root starter, the leaves that were started to bud are opening, so here’s hoping I can get roots… thanks, amy
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ummm GTS: Google-that-sh*t
that’s what that means! 🙂
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aahhh. I’m old, sorry. Anyway, smarter people then I told me the name of the tree. Hardly had to lift a finger.-amy
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