550 Inside Out Show Plant of the Week April 8 2010 Red Buckeye

MaryAnn Fink

Conservation Specialist

Copyright 2010

Q: When is red really “green”?

A: When you are talking about planting the environmentally “Show Me Smart Gardening” choice, Red buckeye to enhance a cultivated green space!

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia )

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’. I think it is worth mentioning-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 dozens and dozens of minature pink colored hat racks with multiple hanging rods. Or maybe it looks more like an old fashioned 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. These tubes have a rather novel look. Their blunt tips and double eared protruding petals mixed with a little imagination, looks like hundreds of little pink bunny eared puppets hanging on doll size coat trees. (Well maybe it takes a lot of imagination!)

Although the unique flowers are not otherwise bunny oriented, the Red buckeye is habitat support friendly. He is a great nectar source for the ruby-throated hummingbird!

The Red buckeye’s spring timing is perfect. The hummers are just returning to Missouri from their migration. (Their very first stop is the so sweet Aquilegia canadensis - watch for her first flower to bloom to hang your hummingbird feeder. The red buckeye will sustain while we procrastinate until we see them with our own two eyes ( Stop reading now and hurry to put out your feeder!) Or better yet- call me and let me help you make plans to plant all their favorites! It is easier and prettier and smart too!

These showy flower extensions on the Red buckeye, called panicles, can vary from a reddish pink to a salmon red depending on the specific tree, the weather and the individual flower's 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 myrtle. For another combination idea 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 some sun protection! ( This can also happen when he 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" (like me) again the next spring. Take note that 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 worth of cultivated green space:

.http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestry_div/ChampionTree.pdfhttp://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestpark/Treewalkinfo.pdfhttp://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2002/12/50.htm

Some of the best buckeye choices for the lower Midwest include:

Aesculus × carnea: Red Horse ChestnutAesculus flava (A. octandra): yellow buckeyeAesculus glabra: Ohio BuckeyeAesculus hippocastanum: Common Horse ChestnutAesculus parviflora: bottlebrush buckeyeAesculus pavia: red buckeyeAesculus × carnea red horse chestnutAesculus 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.