Painted Buckeye-Aesculus sylvatica sp?

Has anyone got experience growing this or seeing it grow in the Midwest? Is it a good garden plant? Is leaf scorch an issue in late summer? Thanks in advance.

scott

Bernheim has a passle (passel?) of these Aesculus, as well as all the rest. Their arrangement in the collection really allows comparison between the species and individuals.

My recollection is that almost all the small southern buckeyes (except bottlebrush) are defoliated by August in KY. The others just look like the dickens. Scorch would be a problem if they would retain foliage long enough.

Hi VV,

Which begs the question, which is worse? Relatively benign but dead-looking, bare trees in August, or tattered, scarred and blighted leaves just hanging on.

It's almost a shame that I like buckeyes so much. They are so cool from April til June. Three whole months of beauty.

The form "Autumn Splendor" which has been discussed here must have decent foliage into fall to exhibit the red color, but maybe that is just for our friends from the great white north to enjoy.

Scott

'Autumn Splendor' is one of the bigger shade trees. Many of those large tree species/selections can look a lot better, especially my favorite Aesculus flava.

But you asked about the little ones.

Ahh, for some reason I thought "Autumn Splendor" was one of the smaller ones. My bad.

Aesculus flava is my favorite too, although I like the old name (Aesculus octandra) better. Say it with a Gretta Garbo accent (ahk TAHN Drah), like a woman's name, for the greatest affect. Flava just sounds like a bean.

Scott

I think 'Autumn Splendor' is supposed to be smaller. It had excellent foliage all the way till now for me. Of course, as Aesculus chinensis becomes more popular, the "skanky leaves by August" problem will be history! Scott, how did the leaves on your A. chinensis fare?

Kevin,

They hung on fairly well. Never really scorched at all. I still haven't planted it out. The spot I have in mind for it had a large stump ground up last fall and I don't think all that root has broken down enough quite yet.

Scott

'Autumn Splendor' is supposed to be out of A. glabra parentage, though some have listed the clone as including the mixture [(A. glabra x A. flava) x A. pavia].

I'm sure we can all do our algebra this morning, and have an answer to this pop quiz?

Bigger than a breadbox? I think 'Autumn Splendor' is rated at 40-60', which may be a weenie compared to some trees, but will dwarf the red buckeyes and painted buckeyes. This tree is more likely to gain stature and speed as it is brought south, too.

Holding clean foliage and getting some red in the fall color is nice; I think the jury is still out on this plant's qualities in the ORV.

Yeah, I have not seen it planted around here yet. Hope to, though. I'd like to see how it performs here before I commit the time and space to it myself.

Scott

Mike Hayman has it planted somewhere around Seneca Gardens in Louisville, and I'm sure it's in the crowd down at Bernheim. I remember when he got it years ago from Harold Pellet and/or Kris Bachtell (MN and IL, respectively).

I'll see if I can track it down and report back.

I generally see it promoted as a small to mid-sized tree (35'), similar to what Ohio Buckeye will usually grow to up here. I didn't realize the U of Minn. released it way back in 1980. Seems like retail nurseries just started to sell it during the last five years or so. It's just now starting to become common. Whatever Aesculus x arnoldiana is, that's what Autumn Splendor is supposed to be closest to.