June Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Bottlebrush Buckeye

Bottlebrush Buckeye in June

Bottlebrush Buckeye really showed out in our garden this summer. Multitudes of rain fell during the month of June, and our little bushes just loved it.

Aesculus parviflora is usually referred to as Bottlebrush Buckeye because the huge blooms do resemble large white bottlebrushes. Aesculus parviflora is a lovely native plant with bright green palmately compound leaves and fragrant white bottlebrush blooms up to 1 foot long in summer.

This plant has a spreading habit that under ideal conditions will grow wider than it is tall. When I say ideal conditions, I mean moist soil in full sun. We have one such plant, pictured in this post. But Bottlebrush Buckeye is quite tolerant of drought. I know this because we have one that I should have planted in a better spot, as it has been growing in full shade with no supplemental water for years. That one is pitifully leggy and has never bloomed until this year, after all that late Spring rain we had, when it rewarded us with one bloom. I was appreciative, but apologetic. I did not know what I was doing when I planted that one.

The huge white bloom panicles on the Bottlebrush Buckeye attract butterflies and many other pollinators. 

This lovely shrub can grow up to 12 feet tall and spread to about 15 feet wide.

If you are lucky enough to have a pond or a stream, that is this buckeye's native habitat. It will tolerate a constantly wet bog, but grows well in any garden with regular water. If grown in full sun, it will need more water. You'll get the largest most beautiful blooms in full sun with regular water or wet soil.

June Blooms in my Georgia Garden: Bottlebrush Buckeye

When it comes to native shrubs, I have many favorites, and Bottlebrush Buckeye is definitely one of them. Just look at these huge inflorescences--one at the tip of each and every stem! This native plant is one of the most beautiful flowering shrubs in the whole United States.

The botanical name Aesculus parviflora given to this buckeye by the famous botanist William Bartram seems to contradict what I see in my garden. The word parviflora means "small-flowered," and I'd consider these blooms to be anything but small. Oh well, this world is full of contradictions. 

Mr. Bartram discovered Bottlebrush Buckeyes in the 1700's during his travels through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Although for some reason, this shrub is still not widely planted in American gardens, like so many of our native plants, it is appreciated by British gardeners. It was introduced to British nurseries in the 1800's and has been propagated and sold in Europe ever since. Aesculus parviflora is so loved in England that it received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Don't you think that award is very well deserved?

But as you know, beauty is not everything. Beauty is as beauty does, so they say. And Bottlebrush Buckeye does beautiful things in my garden! All it needs to look like this is full sun and plenty of water. 

Huge white bloom spikes appear in June and July and are very fragrant. The large blooms shaped like a bottlebrush can be up to a foot long. (I told you Mr. Bartram named it wrong!)  Bottlebrush Buckeye attracts all kinds of pollinators, and when in bloom, bees and butterflies are all over the flowers.

Even if this shrub did not bloom, it would be beautiful in the landscape. Palmately compound leaves are large and give the bush a tropical appearance. They begin as large bronzy green leaf buds in Spring and open into bright green leaves that are fuzzy underneath. They kind of droop, which I like. The leaves turn a nice shade of yellow in Fall before dropping. 

The pollinated blooms will develop a large rough seed pod that will burst to reveal a hard shiny brown nut. This buckeye not is is not edible for humans, but squirrels and deer love it. The seeds are very viable, and if not eaten by wildlife, they germinate at about a 100% success rate.

Bottlebrush Buckeye is a spreading shrub that needs space to show off its beautiful form. At maturity, it will be up to 12 feet tall and just as wide.

Aesculus parviflora can be grown just about everywhere. Although it is native only in the Southeastern United States, it can be grown as far north as Maine. This buckeye is hardy in USDA Zones 4-8.

Although it usually is found growing as an understory plant beneath large trees and near water, you can grow it quite successfully in any garden. It will grow very well in the shade, but it won't bloom very much. Plant it in full sun where you can reach it with a hose, and you'll be rewarded year after year with show-stopping blooms that deserve to be photographed.

You probably won't see Bottlebrush Buckeye in nurseries here except those who specialize in native plants, but this is one shrub that is worth seeking out.