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Judas tree buying guide

Updated: October 2026

You type buy Judas tree UK and amazon.co.uk hands you a twelve-inch sapling, seed packets in three species, and, before anyone filtered the results, novels that borrowed the name. This Judas tree buying guide is the decision before you open the [Judas tree comparison](/hub/trees-and-palms/judas-tree): which plant the words mean, whether seed or a living plant fits your timeline, and what the shelf prices in this set actually buy. The Products Compared editorial team checked amazon.co.uk listings and RHS plant pages on 19 October 2026. We did not run a germination trial. A purchase through a comparison link may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You type buy Judas tree UK and amazon.co.uk hands you a twelve-inch sapling, seed packets in three species, and, before anyone filtered the results, novels that borrowed the name.

Our top picks

SAFLAX SAFLAX Judas tree seeds (60)

Best overall

SAFLAX SAFLAX Judas tree seeds (60)
4.9/10about £4.55
View offer
Akplants Judas tree sapling (Cercis siliquastrum)

Rank 2

Akplants Judas tree sapling (Cercis siliquastrum)
7.1/10about £12.50
View offer
Ipsa Ipsa Chinese redbud seeds (10)

Best value

Ipsa Ipsa Chinese redbud seeds (10)
5.7/10about £2.96
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Which plant the name means
  2. 2.Seed or a living plant
  3. 3.What the amazon.co.uk prices buy
  4. 4.When a nursery pot is the real purchase

Which plant the name means

In UK garden use, Judas tree means Cercis siliquastrum: heart-shaped leaves and rosy-pink pea flowers on older wood. The RHS gives it H5, ultimate height 8–12 m and spread wider than 8 m over twenty to fifty years, in full sun or partial shade on well-drained soil. Canadian Judas tree and Chinese Judas tree are shop names for Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, and Cercis chinensis, the Chinese redbud. Hayloft puts Cercis siliquastrum as the tallest. Cercis canadensis is slightly smaller and often finishes flowering before the leaves. Cercis chinensis sits at roughly 2.5–4 m. A canadensis or chinensis packet is the wrong species for the classic silhouette. The Judas tree vs eastern redbud page walks through when each fits. Read the Latin name before you pay. Bodnant, the deep purple cultivar on Cercis siliquastrum, is not inside these ASINs.

Seed or a living plant

A seed packet is not a flowering tree. Horticulture Magazine's rule of thumb for Cercis from seed is about fifteen years to flower. Soak, cold and warm stages in outside sellers' guides are not a result for these amazon.co.uk packets. A sapling skips sowing but not the wait. Akplants says a sapling often starts flowering at four to seven years. Gardeners' World puts a twenty-year size at about 4.5 m by 4 m and says the tree dislikes disturbance once planted. The twelve-inch plant at about £12.50 is a young start. Choose seed if you accept scarification or chilling and possible mould. Choose the sapling, the top pick, if you want Cercis siliquastrum as a plant and will put it outdoors immediately. Choose a UK nursery pot from about £34.99 upward for a larger rootball and a named cultivar. Who each listing suits is on best Judas tree.
SAFLAX SAFLAX Judas tree seeds (60)

Testsieger

SAFLAX SAFLAX Judas tree seeds (60)
4.9/10about £4.55
View offer

What the amazon.co.uk prices buy

On 19 October 2026 the kept listings ran from about £2.96 to about £12.50. The Akplants sapling is the only living Cercis siliquastrum, 3.0 from three reviews. One UK review reported death after indoor care. Bullets claim hardy in the UK and grown from seed in Norwich. SAFLAX, sixty seeds at about £4.55, is 3.1 from 100. Reviews mostly say nothing germinated, including one UK text about old mouldy seed. That star average is a complaint file, not a germination percentage. The Ipsa siliquastrum and canadensis packets had no star line. Ten Cercis chinensis seeds at about £2.96 are best value only as the smallest cash for a named species, not the Judas tree. A year-round flowering field is not an RHS calendar. Skip the sapling for flowers this decade. Skip SAFLAX for a reliable germination story. Skip the set for Bodnant, Avondale or a multi-litre nursery tree.

When a nursery pot is the real purchase

The gap between this Amazon set and a garden-centre tree is years of growing on. Thompson & Morgan listed Cercis siliquastrum from £34.99 on the day we checked. Gardening Express showed a five-litre plant at £65.99. Coolings listed Bodnant in twelve litres at £119 in search snippets. You are missing root volume, a cultivar name, and often a clearer hardiness story for the plant in hand. H5 means hardy in most of the UK in a severe winter, about -15°C to -10°C, for an established plant in the ground. It is not a promise for a first-year seedling in a pot. Young Cercis plants are more tender, and Hayloft advises fleece for new plants because roots are shallow and wide. Patio-only gardeners should read Judas tree in a pot before assuming any packet answers container life.

Common questions

Is a Judas tree the same as a Canadian Judas tree?
No. Judas tree in UK use is Cercis siliquastrum. Canadian Judas tree on a packet is usually Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud. The names overlap in English. The plants do not. Check the Latin binomial in the title.
Should I buy seed or a plant?
Buy seed if you accept long waits and uneven germination, and you know how to treat Cercis seed. Buy the sapling if you want Cercis siliquastrum as a living plant and will grow it outdoors from arrival. Buy a nursery pot if you need more root and a faster path toward size, at a much higher price.
Will a £12 sapling flower soon?
Not in the way a mature garden tree flowers. Seller and magazine rule-of-thumb figures run from several years for a sapling to about fifteen years from seed. The twelve-inch height is the plant you receive, not the twenty-year 4.5 m figure from Gardeners' World.
Why are nursery trees £35 to several hundred pounds?
You are paying for years of growing on, larger pots, named cultivars such as Bodnant, and nursery overhead. Those are not the amazon.co.uk ASIN prices in this set.
Does hardy in the UK on the sapling mean H5 for a seedling in a pot?
Not automatically. H5 describes an established in-ground plant on the RHS page. A young plant in a container on an exposed balcony faces different frost and wet-soil risks.
Are the Ipsa packets reviewed?
The files for the three Ipsa ASINs had no star line and no review text on the date we checked. You rely on listing attributes and seller bullets only.

Related pages

How to grow a Judas tree

Judas tree

Best Judas tree UK: sapling, seed packet, or skip it

Judas tree in a pot: a temporary tub, then plant out

Cercis siliquastrum vs canadensis: UK size and shade

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures saved for this set on 19 October 2026.

  1. RHS: Cercis siliquastrum (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. RHS: Cercis canadensis (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. RHS: Cercis chinensis (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. BBC Gardeners' World: how to grow a Judas tree (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. BBC Gardeners' World: Cercis siliquastrum (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Hayloft: how to grow Cercis (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK: issuing plant passports in Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Oxford Plants 400: Cercis (retrieved 19 October 2026)