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As a comment about Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), ILPARW wrote:

The Bottlebrush Buckeye was found in the 1800's to have a small native range in about half of Alabama with edges into Georgia and northwest Florida, growing in wet mesic to dry mesic lowlands or uplands in or around woods. Its large palmate leaves have 5 to 7 leaflets that turn a good yellow to yellow-orange autumn color. The large, erect, candle-like, white flower spikes are about 6 to 12 inches long and have a slightly perfumed scent. It has handsome stout smooth gray to gray brown twigs and branches that are like the Pagoda Dogwood in an arrangement of a wishbone and roller coaster pattern, looking good in winter. It is slow growing of about 1 foot/year. It has a fibrous but deep descending root system, so it is difficult to transplant. It is an expensive plant that is not well-known by the general public so I infrequently see it at arboretums, estates, parks, and professional landscapes, and furthermore, it needs lots of room to fully spread out which is 12 to 20 feet. It is sold at larger, diverse nurseries and native plant nurseries. It is an excellent, high quality, clean, neat shrub.
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Dec 9, 2020 9:15 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: John
Oklahoma City, OK (Zone 7a)
Avid Green Pages Reviewer Photo Contest Winner 2019
There's no need to add to the comments made by ILPARW... they are very complete. I liked learning about its very limited native range... and I absolutely agree with his last three sentences.
Bottlebrush Buckeye is a flowering shrub I only knew from books and magazines for many years. I never saw one in a public or private garden until I visited the Missouri Botanical Garden in late spring in 2003. It came into view as I passed the Climatron and started toward the Chinese Garden. At MBG the Bottlebrush Buckeye was 12 feet high, 12 feet deep, and formed an undulating planting that probably stretches along a slope under the light shade of large trees for close to a hundred feet. It was in full bloom... it was magnificent and overwhelming all at once.
I had wanted one ever since until finally, two years ago, Mary's Garden in Hamilton, Ohio was nice enough to send me a young plant. It has lived outside ever since in a 10 inch container... and last year it produced four very nice bloom spikes. Mine looked like this:
Thumb of 2020-12-10/jathton/4757ce

But planted in the ground and given time it can look like this:
Thumb of 2020-12-10/jathton/741775
[both of these photos from the MBG website]
Thumb of 2020-12-10/jathton/1b0644
This is a spectacular shrub and deserves the space it requires.
Last edited by jathton Dec 11, 2020 10:38 PM Icon for preview
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