Alley Cat Cercis canadensis Redbud Tree

A Wayside Exclusive Introduction

Plant Patent Applied For. 'Alley Cat' is the answer to gardeners' prayers. For years we have sought a stable variegated Redbud that didn't revert to green at the first hint of stress. Now this beautifully white-streaked variety has come along, beguiling us with coppery-pink variegation in spring, plenty of blooms, and bicolor foliage that refuses to green out!

'Alley Cat' puts on a splendid show in spring, opening its new foliage of bright green with coppery-pink tints among the white. No two leaves are alike on this Redbud, and all are beautiful! By summer the variegation is solid white, and it remains no matter what the weather does -- heat, humidity, even drought will not cause these leaves to go green.

In addition to its lovely variegation, 'Alley Cat' also sports abundant dark pink blooms in spring. A rapid grower, it eventually reaches 20 to 30 feet high and slightly wider in the sunny to partly shaded garden. A magnificent shrub!

'Alley Cat' was discovered in an alley, of course -- specifically, the one just beyond Allen Bush's garden in Louisville, Kentucky. He gave the seedling to Harald Neubauer of Hidden Hollow Nursery in Tennessee, and the result is 'Alley Cat' for all of us to enjoy! Zones 4-8.