Red Buckeye
by MaryAnn Fink
Conservation Specialist
copyright 2010
When is red “green”? When you are talking about planting the environmentally “Show Me Smart Gardening” choice, Red buckeye to enhance a cultivated green space!
Although he is typically included with medium height understory trees, he is usually a rather stout, perhaps even a bit portly fellow. He is best defined as a multi-stemmed shrub or a low branched small tree.
I suppose this grouping of him with slightly larger trees is a little "short" of hopeful. However, with enough elbow room, and the best of circumstances, it is possible to challenge our state champion tree, located near the Jewel Box in St. Louis’s Forest Park. This might be wishful thinking! (So to the optimist- plan for the max and check out the link below!). For the more practical, he typically reaches a height of 10-20’.
He is a bit of a show-off in the spring. Even at a young age (under 3’), he is a talented performer, balancing at his twiggy fingertips 4-10” flower extensions that look more like pink coat or hat racks with multiple hangers. Or maybe it looks more like a candy store’s lollypop stand (Is it time for sweet tooth break)?
It is on these fleshy short "dowel rod extensions" the rosy tube shaped flowers are suspended. Even these tubes have a novel look because of their blunt tips and double eared protruding petals. With a little imagination, it looks like hundreds of little pink bunny eared puppets hanging on a floor to ceiling coat tree. (Well maybe it takes a lot of imagination).
The unique flowers are not otherwise bunny oriented however the Red buckeye is habitat friendly. He is a nectar source for the ruby-throated hummingbird. The Red buckeye’s spring timing is perfect too, since the hummers are just returning from their migration.
These showy flower extensions, called panicles, can vary from a reddish pink to a salmon red depending on the specific tree; the weather and the individual flower age as flowers tend to fade to a pretty pastel. This is lovely when used as a backdrop for the not showy till later / cut me to the ground, Crape myrtles. Pair Red buckeye with other early blooming shrubs that also blush tints of pink and peach such as fragrant Viburnums.
The Red buckeye is an under story tree naturally found on wooded slopes, at the base of bluffs and along stream beds. His large dark green leaves, arranged in clusters like the tropical houseplant Schefflera gives him a unique umbrella look and bold texture in the landscape.
He is perfectly happy placed at the edge of a shaded rain garden or along a wet/ dry creek bed. (As long as the soil is not soggy!) He does his best on the outer perimeter but in the shade of larger trees. This is where he can bask in the morning light, flower his best, enjoy good drainage and still escape the afternoon sun. This also makes it easier for him to compete for water rights.
His extra large leaves will dry out and look tattered without sun protection. This also happens when is is severly water stressed. If this happens, he may decide to save his energy by letting his leaves drop early. He will recover, be none the worse for wear and be seasonally optimistic again the next spring. However, repeated environmental stress may slow his growth rate over time and reduce his chance to become a state champion tree!
He does produce the popular smooth brown shiny seeds called buckeyes most seasons. These ripen in the fall. They are poisonous and so are rarely bothered by deer. His fall leaf color is yellow.
Care Factor Rating: 1 Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) must be watered regularly till established. It is considered best to plant Red buckeye in early spring before flowering, or after flowering is finished but before the summer heat arrives. Check him frequently for water needs as he establishes. Some leaf drop may occur during transplant transition.
To maintain his naturally attractive multi-stem branching habit, minimize any pruning to the removal of only the occasional damaged or dead branch. This can be done any time of the year. Note: Flowering occurs on older wood but starts at a very early age. No regular pruning is needed. Any pruning will interfere with flower and seed production.
See the following links for Tree Walk details, and Missouri Department of Conservation information and for a list with links for some other types of buckeyes.
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestry_div/ChampionTree.pdf
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/Treewalkinfo.pdf
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2002/12/50.htm
Conservation Specialist
copyright 2010
When is red “green”? When you are talking about planting the environmentally “Show Me Smart Gardening” choice, Red buckeye to enhance a cultivated green space!
Although he is typically included with medium height understory trees, he is usually a rather stout, perhaps even a bit portly fellow. He is best defined as a multi-stemmed shrub or a low branched small tree.
I suppose this grouping of him with slightly larger trees is a little "short" of hopeful. However, with enough elbow room, and the best of circumstances, it is possible to challenge our state champion tree, located near the Jewel Box in St. Louis’s Forest Park. This might be wishful thinking! (So to the optimist- plan for the max and check out the link below!). For the more practical, he typically reaches a height of 10-20’.
He is a bit of a show-off in the spring. Even at a young age (under 3’), he is a talented performer, balancing at his twiggy fingertips 4-10” flower extensions that look more like pink coat or hat racks with multiple hangers. Or maybe it looks more like a candy store’s lollypop stand (Is it time for sweet tooth break)?
It is on these fleshy short "dowel rod extensions" the rosy tube shaped flowers are suspended. Even these tubes have a novel look because of their blunt tips and double eared protruding petals. With a little imagination, it looks like hundreds of little pink bunny eared puppets hanging on a floor to ceiling coat tree. (Well maybe it takes a lot of imagination).
The unique flowers are not otherwise bunny oriented however the Red buckeye is habitat friendly. He is a nectar source for the ruby-throated hummingbird. The Red buckeye’s spring timing is perfect too, since the hummers are just returning from their migration.
These showy flower extensions, called panicles, can vary from a reddish pink to a salmon red depending on the specific tree; the weather and the individual flower age as flowers tend to fade to a pretty pastel. This is lovely when used as a backdrop for the not showy till later / cut me to the ground, Crape myrtles. Pair Red buckeye with other early blooming shrubs that also blush tints of pink and peach such as fragrant Viburnums.
The Red buckeye is an under story tree naturally found on wooded slopes, at the base of bluffs and along stream beds. His large dark green leaves, arranged in clusters like the tropical houseplant Schefflera gives him a unique umbrella look and bold texture in the landscape.
He is perfectly happy placed at the edge of a shaded rain garden or along a wet/ dry creek bed. (As long as the soil is not soggy!) He does his best on the outer perimeter but in the shade of larger trees. This is where he can bask in the morning light, flower his best, enjoy good drainage and still escape the afternoon sun. This also makes it easier for him to compete for water rights.
His extra large leaves will dry out and look tattered without sun protection. This also happens when is is severly water stressed. If this happens, he may decide to save his energy by letting his leaves drop early. He will recover, be none the worse for wear and be seasonally optimistic again the next spring. However, repeated environmental stress may slow his growth rate over time and reduce his chance to become a state champion tree!
He does produce the popular smooth brown shiny seeds called buckeyes most seasons. These ripen in the fall. They are poisonous and so are rarely bothered by deer. His fall leaf color is yellow.
Care Factor Rating: 1 Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) must be watered regularly till established. It is considered best to plant Red buckeye in early spring before flowering, or after flowering is finished but before the summer heat arrives. Check him frequently for water needs as he establishes. Some leaf drop may occur during transplant transition.
To maintain his naturally attractive multi-stem branching habit, minimize any pruning to the removal of only the occasional damaged or dead branch. This can be done any time of the year. Note: Flowering occurs on older wood but starts at a very early age. No regular pruning is needed. Any pruning will interfere with flower and seed production.
See the following links for Tree Walk details, and Missouri Department of Conservation information and for a list with links for some other types of buckeyes.
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestry_div/ChampionTree.pdf
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/Treewalkinfo.pdf
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2002/12/50.htm
Some of the best buckeye choices for the lower Midwest include:
Aesculus × carnea: Red Horse Chestnut
Aesculus flava (A. octandra): yellow buckeye
Aesculus glabra: Ohio Buckeye
Aesculus hippocastanum: Common Horse Chestnut
Aesculus parviflora: bottlebrush buckeye
Aesculus pavia: red buckeye
Aesculus × carnea red horse chestnut
Aesculus pavia var. flavescens: Texas yellow buckeye, yellow woolly buckeye
The most familiar member of the genus worldwide is the Common Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum, native to a small area of the Balkans in southeast Europe, but widely cultivated throughout the temperate world.
The yellow buckeye Aesculus flava (syn. A. octandra) is also a valuable ornamental tree with yellow flowers, but is less widely planted.
Among the smaller species, the bottlebrush buckeye Aesculus parviflora also makes a very interesting and unusual flowering shrub.
Several other members of the genus are used as ornamentals, and several horticultural hybrids have also been developed, most notably the red Horse Chestnut Aesculus × carnea, a hybrid between A. hippocastanum and A. pavia.
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