Miss Cornelia’s little lavender tree has become a big favorite

Photo courtesy of Brotzman’s Nursery

Shown here in this photo taken in 1991-92 is Connie Covey and her dog Luke standing in front of the original tree (Lavender Twist) growing in her yard.

If trees could talk imagine the stories they might tell. From the big oak sitting in the center of the park – its bark etched with monograms and hearts professing someone’s love - to the evergreen planted in a backyard signifying the birth of a child or the death of a loved one. 

It was during my recent search to find a flowering tree that is likely to survive a year in Michigan, that John Tuffy, tree and shrub manager at Ray Wiegand’s Nursery in Macomb Township, told me about the Lavender Twist Weeping Redbud. As its name suggests, this flower tree features heart-shape leaves and reddish-purple buds that open to lavender-pink flowers in early spring.

“The standard redbud is going to grow to be 30 or 40 feet,” said Tuffy. But  this one’s unusual trunk and weeping branches grow out to create an umbrella of color. “It’s more on the ornamental side,” he said.

Wanting to know more about it, I did a search to find a grower. It’s then that I discovered the origins of this cool-looking tree.

In the spring of 1991, Charlie and Nancy Hanks, former owners of Westfield Nursery in Westfield, N.Y., stopped in to pick up an order at Brotzman’s Nursery. While they were there, they asked for help in propagating a weeping redbud. Someone in their town had noticed a weeping redbud tree growing in the yard of Miss Cornelia (Connie) and wanted one of their own to give away as a gift. However, Miss Cornelia’s tree – unlike others of its kind – was covered with lavender twists. 

As the story goes, according to Connie, in the early 1960s her brother and mother returned to N.Y. from a trip to Florida. Among the items they unpacked  was a small tree in a little pot. Connie’s mother gave her the tree and told her to plant it in their yard. Connie had no idea where, why or how they received it, although she later surmised that her brother may have plucked the tree out of the ground during one of their stops along the way. Connie planted the small tree (weeping redbud) in her front yard as part of a shrub border. What made it unusual was at some point, a nearby lilac bush started growing into and on top of it. 

To help in the process of propagation, Nancy sent the growers at Brotzman’s Nursery some scions and photographs of the weeping redbud. Fifty grafts later, Tim Brotzman was able to successfully propagate the twisted weeping redbud. 

The new selection was named Cercis Canadensis “Covey” after the very endearing Miss Cornelia, who passed away in 2006. Lavender Twist is the descriptive name that stuck after Brotzman first saw Connie’s tree in flower and remarked on how it was full of lavender twists. According to Brotzman’s Nursery, “Connie’s neighbor remembered how he was helping to saw down the lilac when he came upon the strange-looking twisted plant. Not knowing what it was, he left it. What a lucky break for all of us that he did.”

Photo by Tobia Walter

More flowering trees

If twisted trunks and purple flowers are not what you had in mind, Wiegand’s John Tuffy said there are several varieties of flowering trees to choose from – all of which do well in Michigan’s zone. Here are some examples: 

* Eastern Redbud features bright rosy pink flowers that bloom for several weeks in April and reddish-brown leaves that change to dark green and then yellow in the fall.  

* Kwanzan cherry is a vase-shaped tree with a rounded crown that spreads with age making it wider than it is tall. It has dark pink buds that open to reveal a softer pink flower surrounded by bronze-colored leaves that turn dark green, yellow, orange and then copper in the fall. A mature Kwanzan can grow to 10 feet. 

* Adirondack crabapple is favored for its resistance to disease and annual bloom cycle, from abundant dark carmine buds to lighter red, then white, heavy-textured, wide-spreading flowers with traces of red; slightly fragrant. 

* Vanilla Twist is the white-flower version of the Lavender Twist, introduced this spring by Brotzman’s Nursery. In addition, Dr. Dennis Werner in North Carolina has used Lavender Twist to create a purple leaf version called Ruby Falls.  He also did a variegated version that has circulated under the name of Whitewater but think that is going to be changed.  All of four plants are patented.