{"id":14086,"date":"2023-04-03T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T16:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=14086"},"modified":"2023-03-31T18:09:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T22:09:51","slug":"red-buckeye-delightful-small-flowering-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2023\/04\/03\/red-buckeye-delightful-small-flowering-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Buckeye – Delightful Small Flowering Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mature Red Buckeye on the ETSU Campus in Johnson City<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia<\/em>), aka Firecracker Plant, is a southeastern U. S. native that is a large understory shrub or small tree.\u00a0 A member of the Sapindaceae (maple) family, this lovely spring flowering beauty grows 15 to 25 feet tall in 30 years and is a perfect fit in small yards. It is native from the South-Central U.S. east thru the Southeastern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 4-8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many 5- to 8-inch-long red to orange-red tubular floral panicles stand erect on\u00a0branch tips in mid-spring. The vibrant colored flowers are stunningly beautiful. The glossy foliage is composed usually of five elliptical serrated leaflets palmately arranged and emerges about the same time. Within a large wild population of red buckeyes, flower\u00a0color often varies from dark pink to\u00a0deep red. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Red tubular flowers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Red buckeye grows in average, moist, well-drained soil, and in full morning\/afternoon shade or in\u00a0all-day partial sunlight. The tree\u00a0holds up to loads of shade although flower numbers are fewer.\u00a0Spring feed with granular 10-10-10\u00a0or equivalent fertilizer. Soil moisture is\u00a0of key importance as summer foliage tends to scorch during hot dry summers. In southern climes\u00a0all-afternoon shade is the rule!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From late April into May, for about a month, blooms attract hummingbirds and other pollinators. Flowers are followed by\u00a0three-parted smooth husks, each containing 1 – 3 shiny brown seeds within. Husk numbers vary from one year to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smooth orange-brown seed husks contain 1-3 shiny\u00a0seeds (1-2- inch long\u00a0nutlets).\u00a0Seeds are called \u201cbuckeyes\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0ripen\u00a0by\u00a0early fall. \u00a0When husks start to split open, collect and plant ripen seeds immediately; do not allow seed to dry out. Seedling trees often start flowering in 3-4 years. Seeds are poisonous to humans and wildlife. Squirrels will collect and \u201cplant\u201d the seeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disease and pest issues are rare, although scorched and fungal-spotted leaves tend to drop starting in late August and branches are mostly bare by the first day of autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landscape\nUse:<\/strong> good woodland or in a wildlife\ngarden or a small specimen tree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insects,\nDiseases, or Other Plant Problems:  <\/strong>Leaf blotch can be a problem for this plant. Leaf, stem,\nand fruit drop can be messy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivars:<\/strong> ‘Atrosanguinea’ \u2013 with deeper red flowers
var. flavescens <\/em>– <\/em>rare yellow form <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Note:<\/strong> Often confuse with red horsechestnut (Aesculus<\/em> x carnea<\/em>) which is a hybrid cross between red buckeye (A. pavia<\/em>) and common horsechestnut (A. hippocastanum<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), aka Firecracker Plant, is a southeastern U. S. native that is a large understory shrub or small tree.\u00a0 A member of the Sapindaceae (maple) family, this lovely spring flowering beauty grows 15 to 25 feet tall in 30 years and is a perfect fit in small yards. It is native from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,657,1319,749,1498,778,674,645,665,745,853,551,597,1476,627,843,1059,729,1280,1321,777,630,705,646,7,113,819,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14089,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14086\/revisions\/14089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}