A native shrub with a lovely mounding shape , beautiful white blossoms that support pollinator , is generally pest and disease - devoid , and — oh yes — avoided by cervid ? Who would n’t want one — or more ? The flora is bottlebrush buckeye ( Aesculus parviflora ) , and you could probably find the square coinage at a local nursery , as did I. Admittedly , it ’s not evergreen , but other than that , it ’s the complete package . In fact , “ No better works could be recommended as a lawn bush , ” according to Dirr’sManual of Woody LandscapePlants ( quoting W.J. Bean ) . Why this plant has been underutilized in American garden is a secret .
Bottlebrush buckeye — a native of the Southeast — capture with its large palmately chemical compound leaves and its creamy panicles , which appear in early summertime and do indeed resemble a bottlebrush . You ’ll want to give the blooms a close inspection ; the anther are violent and the filaments ping . This multi - cauline , suckering shrub grows lento but can eventually get to 7 to 10 feet magniloquent and 12 to 15 feet wide . The leaves turn white-livered in downslope , which is when it produces “ buckeyes ” — the seed capsule , which each contain 1 to 3 seeds .
I embed my original bottlebrush buckeye over 25 years ago in partial shade , where it thrived despite the neglectfulness of my other - maternity years . It did some “ mothering ” of its own , spread seedlings that my neighbor and I have welcomed into our yards . But not too many seedling ; it is far from aggressive in its spreading .
In the wild , bottlebrush buckeye maturate in hardwood wood along river bluffs . It prefer moist soil ; as to drought tolerance , the expert are not in concord , though it may suffer some drought , but NOT in its other years of establishment . In our area , imbed it in fond shade , and be indisputable to give it lot of room for elaboration . One expert caution against pruning , which can spoil its cast .
In northerly regions , where it is well - bed , at least one expert recommends both sunny and partially - louche spots . One other notable difference among plants in northerly clime is that , in the Frederick North , the seminal fluid are seldom viable due to the shortened growing season .
Happily , the nectar and pollen ofA. parvifloraare NOT poisonous , at least not for the bees and butterflies . Among those which may visit are Eastern tiger morning coat , elephantine morning coat , and monarchs .
Although deer have never so much as nibbled at my bottlebrush conker , a couple of them have new combat injury to their barque at the scurvy destruction of the tree trunk . Could it be squirrel or rabbits ransack barque or could it be a “ southwestern United States injury ” due to sudden temperature changes ? Those are the possibilities turned up by my inquiry . I plan to watch up on this by post sample to the lab at Virginia Tech . persist tune up !
While the ego - seeding of my mature shrub has put up plenty of new works , my research revealed that there are additional method acting of propagation : the seeds from the seed capsule can be planted now after they ripen . It “ may also be propagate from underground shank ( stolons ) that earmark the shrub to spread . These stolons produce both roots and an above ground stem at specific point call nodes . section of offset with knob may be dug and transplanted . ”Clemson University Extension .
I was pleasantly surprised to hail across detaileddesign suggestionsfor bottlebrush buckeye , and they ’re worth quote in full :
Bottlebrush buckeye works well as a desktop or mass industrial plant to spotlight the form and colors of fellow traveller plants and block undesirable views . The fine texture and medium leaves of the buckeye will show well with contrasting plant features such as big leaves , coarse texture , thick-skulled shank , and dark green or burgundy color . Other contrasting texture let in thin blade and clumping , arching forms of grass and other vase - mould , pocket-sized - leave shrubs . Contrasting size of it and shape such as low - growing groundcover with a sprawling , mounding manakin will stress the vertical , arching shape of buckeye . To create large flora plenty select flora with similar characteristic that blend with the buckeye .
— Prof. Edward F. Gilman , Ryan W. Klein & Assoc . Prof. Gail Hansen , University of Florida IFAS Extension
No matter how you use it in your landscape design , a bottlebrush buckeye is certain to allow much beauty to your yard , plus food for pollinators . You ca n’t miss with this plant !
source :
Video : Bottlebrush buckeye- Plant Identification / www.youtube.com
“ Bottlebrush buckeye,”Virginia Tech Dendrology
“ Aesculus parviflora : Bottlebrush buckeye,”University of Florida Extension
Iowa State Ext / hortnews / Bottlebrush Buckeye
“ The Beauty of Bottlebrush Buckeye,”Ohio State University / Hort Shorts
“ Bottlebrush Buckeye,”University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden
“ Aesculus parviflora,”Missouri Botanical Garden.org/PlantFinder
“ Preparations to Prevent Southwest Injury,”Purdue University extension service
“ Bark Stripper Squirrels,”Ohio State University
