I just read a post from 2011 from a lady that says her redbud never bloomed, same problem here in KY, bought it spring of 2018, has not bloomed, big beautiful heart shaped leaves, now has what looks like pea pods on it HELP, anyone???
If you just planted the tree last year I bet it is not mature enough to bloom yet. The pods are normal. Another problem may be too much high nitrogen fertilizer. That will put all its energy into producing leaves but few if any flowers. And it may just be getting settled in the new location. It takes a while for some flowering trees. I did the same thing with my fruit trees a few years back. Hubby wanted to use the same fertilizer we used on the garden for the fruit trees. Had tons of beautiful leaves but almost no fruit. He should have listened to me!
They certainly like our acidic soil (5 -5.5pH) I cannot stop them from growing, given dappled or better light.
I have planted two of them over the past ten years. Both bloom, but the first 2-3 years can be hit-and-miss. Either very few blooms, or the bloom period literally last for a couple days and is over. Now that both are established, they bloom well. Note, this tree needs to be protected in the winter. Lots of mulch, and ideally it is not out all by itself agains the wind. Ours is between two larger trees, and likes being a partial-sun understory tree.
