Red buckeye
* Common name: Red buckeye
A red buckeye tree in full bloom.
* Botanical name: Aesculus pavia
* What it is: Although red buckeye is a Pennsylvania native tree, few people know it or plant it. It’s a small, under-story tree in nature that’s most striking when its red flower clusters are in full bloom for about two weeks in early May.
Because of the flowers’ color and elongated form, the tree is sometimes nicknamed the “firecracker plant.”
* Size: Grows 18 to 20 feet tall and wide in about 25 years.
* Where to use: Best sited in shade or at least out of direct afternoon sun. Prefers damp soil and can even tolerate periods of wet soil but isn’t a fan of drought. Usually used as a stand-alone specimen tree.
Important: nut-like seed capsules are poisonous, so you might want to avoid red buckeye if you have young children or eat-anything pets.
* Care: Improve planting bed with compost to aid drainage and create a more loose, rich, “woodsy” soil. Keep young trees well watered, and fertilize each spring with a balanced, granular, organic fertilizer.
Prune out competing trunks and crossing branches to train when young, then remove lower limbs as tree grows.
* Great partner: Crested iris and columbine are native perennials that also prefer shade and damp soil and bloom around the same time. Yellow-blooming varieties of barrenwort color-coordinate and also prefer shade. Native pachysandra is a good groundcover choice.