Aesculus parviflora Bottlebrush Buckeye (essЈ-ku-luss- par-vuhЈ-flor-uh)-
ZONES: LEAF COLOR: Medium green, sometimes darker in summer; fall color ranges from 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 yellow-green to bright yellow. HEIGHT: LEAF DESCRIPTION: COMPOUND (Palmately), 5 to 7 leaflets, narrow obovate 8Ј to 10Јϩ leaflets, 4Љ to 8Љ long, acute to cuspidate tips, acute to cuneate bases. OPPOSITE arrangement. WIDTH: White, appearing in cylindrical panicles to 12Љ long and 8Ј to 12Јϩ FLOWER DESCRIPTION: 3Љ to 4Љ wide. Individual flowers 1/2Љ with 4 petals, stamens pinkish with red an- FRUIT: thers. Flowers in June to mid-July. Outstanding! Љ Љ Dehiscent capsule; 2 to 3 EXPOSURE/CULTURE: Part-shade to sun. Does best in moist and deep organic long, pear shaped, light brown soil with acidic pH. Adaptable to alkaline soil. in mid-fall. PEST PROBLEMS: No serious pests. TEXTURE: BARK/STEMS: Grayish brown with noticeable lighter-colored lenticels. Coarse SELECTED CULTIVARS: ‘Rogers’ — This cultivar flowers later than the species GROWTH RATE: with much longer panicles. Slow to moderate. RELATED SPECIES: (See A. glabra and A. x carnea in Chapter 11.) HABIT: LANDSCAPE NOTES: Bottlebrush Buckeye is one of the most different, yet inter- Broad spreading, multi- esting, shrubs in all of landscape horticulture. It is quite simply awesome in flower, stemmed, small ascending and fall color can be outstanding. It is a specimen plant useful as a focal point in branches. Broader than tall. garden borders or as a lawn shrub. It is a plant that looks great massed in larger properties. A beautiful specimen was seen several years ago on a shady site at the State Botanical Garden of Tennessee.