July 8, 2008

fallen hero: bottlebrush buckeye

Filed Under hot p(l)ants, trees & shrubs

THE SAYING GOES THAT A THING OF BEAUTY is a joy forever. I guess “forever” in this case is in the mind’s eye. My darling, oldest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) went down for the count a week ago, or at least half of it did, and there’s nothing beautiful about the aftermath of its demise.

The bottlebrush buckeye, one of four around the yard, had grown to a hummock-shaped thing of about 10 feet high and 15 or so feet across, a community unto itself with many suckers beneath the oldest stems. This suckering habit will prove to be its (and my) salvation, as younger shoots are known to grow several feet a year, which gives me hope that in time I’ll have my hummock back.

I waded into the fallen mess carefully just yesterday, once I’d had time to really look at it for a few days from all angles and think about the right approach to its rejuvenation. (Up top is how the damaged shrub looked from the house; just above, from farther out in the landscape, looking toward home.)

Could any of it be saved, I wondered, after such disfigurement by a freakish storm? Three of the oldest stems were gone, leaving a hole where probably one-third of the plant’s volume had been. I say I went in carefully, because I didn’t want to damage what might prove to be a well-placed sucker that was its best hope for a future. I carried out the dead, and had a look around (below, the thicket of suckers beneath where the fallen stems had grown).

I love this big, irregular cloud of a plant, native to the Southeast of the United States, which produces not just early summer blossoms but pear-shaped seedpods and then yellowish fall color.

It was hot yesterday and again today, the kind of heat that pushes flower buds to open faster, faster, faster, and so as if on cue to say “Thanks for not cutting me down, Mom,” guess who started to really bloom?

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Comments

15 Responses to “fallen hero: bottlebrush buckeye”

Rick on July 8th, 2008 7:35 pm

May your cautious and careful movements be rewarded with a strong and healthy sucker emerging from the center! Long live the bottlebrush!
Andrea on July 8th, 2008 7:40 pm

How amazing is nature? As sad as part of it falling was, I think your beautiful bottle brush has a wonderful shape to it now.
Can suckers be transplanted to make new trees?
margaret on July 8th, 2008 8:04 pm

@Rick: Blessings in return for yours.

@Andrea: Yes, they can be separated and made into a colony of their own, but as with cutleaf staghorn sumac (which also colonizes by suckering) I have to say I win some and I lose some. “Suckers” by their nature are sometimes shallow-rooted and can suffer if uprooted, or so I have experienced.
Fern on July 9th, 2008 1:27 am

Awww. Bummer. :-(

One of my neighbors had a gorgeous, really old jade plant next to the opening of her driveway. The other day someone used her driveway to turn around and rammed the jade plant, whacking off a portion. From what I can tell, my neighbor has been following a similar approach as you are with this bottlebrush. The dead limbs are just laying there, I suspect until she gets over the shock and decides how to best reshape her plant.
Dee/reddirtramblings on July 9th, 2008 6:48 am

Maybe we love our gardens so much because they are ephemeral, transient. Sometimes that change causes sadness, but I love your attitude about the suckers. I hope you are successful in rejuvenating your shrub.~~Dee
phil on July 9th, 2008 7:00 am

another bonus provided by the bottlebrush buckeye: although i am ground zero for deer foraging, my ten BBs have never been touched by the vermin. and they grow very nicely in part shade too. hooray for the bottlebrush!
s on July 9th, 2008 7:19 am

It’s one of my faves, also, and I look forward to seeing it suckered all over my woodland garden.
Let us know how the rejuvenation goes. Do you think any type of pruning would have helped prevent this?
Dooryarder on July 9th, 2008 7:46 am

Margaret - I fell in love with this shrub at Wave Hill a few years ago. An ancient specimen grows beneath some venerable trees opposite the big house. Even my younger editions are surprisingly lush in the summertime - given their spindly architecture. Sorry for your gap. I’m looking forward to reading more how you deal with it – fascinating blog you have here. By the way, when did you install your AP? Did you plant one shrub or several?
Robin Wedewer on July 9th, 2008 3:55 pm

It’s sad to lose a beautiful and lovely plant like that one. On the bright side, you get to go plant shopping now!

Robin Wedewer
Gardening Examiner
Layanee on July 9th, 2008 5:51 pm

The garden can sometimes be so disappointing! What a lovely old plant! I do have one which is not quite that big and it was pruning which brought it to its’ present size so maybe yours will respond with greater vigor!
margaret on July 9th, 2008 7:59 pm

@S: Welcome! I am not sure–was just talking tonight about the situation with the man who started Wave Hill (yes, @Dooryarder, that’s where I first saw it, too!), we agree it may just be old age and lots of rain and bad storms, a dangerous combination. I am going to see what happens this summer and fall, then re-examine the main crown where the oldest shoots (including those that cracked at the base) emerged from, and if it seems strong. If not, more pruning will happen then. Not sure how I would have pruned earlier, because the hummocky mounds of a thing is what you want…hmmmm…..

@Dooryarder: I really cannot recall…I think I brought home just one in a two-gallon nursery or maybe a 5-gallon from Alan Haskell’s Nursery in Rhode Island eons ago, not more than that. My other three were from balled-and-burlapped specimens, each single plants, and are of a later-blooming variety with very, very long flowerheads. I like the one that fell, the straight species, best.

Welcome, Robin. We shall see if I get a free pass to go shopping…the suckers may like the added sunlight and take up all the room fast and leave me none for newbies!
Matt Mattus on July 10th, 2008 8:48 am

I was worried when you left HOME GROWN, but now I discovered your fabulous blog! My hero….someday I hope to ‘retire’ at a young age from my corporate job too. Good for you, you deserve it.

You might be interested in my gardening blog for people who like unusual or rare plants - exploraculture.blogspot.com. I am thinking of moving over to another URL or Wordpress. Do you like it?

Happy gardening, and R.I.P. Mr. Aesculus, although, I had the same problem but it has re-sprouted from the base and blooming again after a 4 year break.
Matt
margaret on July 10th, 2008 11:26 am

Welcome, Matt, and thanks for re-finding me. :)
I just took a little visit to your blog, thank you, and have many times been in Worcester MA and nearby Boylston, where great horticulture has a very long history (and many gardening friends of mine live).
As for WordPress, can’t say enough how empowering and wonderful it is (and they were nice enough to note my “beautifully designed” use of it recently, as you probably saw). A great platform. Truly.
Brent on July 14th, 2008 11:51 am

Sorry to hear about the bottlebrush. Two weeks ago the wind caught hold of our fruit-laden, top heavy cherry tree and split it right in half. We have a splint on it right now but consulted someone at the local university about what to do next. They recommend inserting a bolt through the tree to hold the two pieces together. What do you think?
margaret on July 14th, 2008 1:14 pm

@Brent: Depends how bad the split is whether it can be cabled or bolted back together (or neither). It is commonplace to support multiple trunks of old trees that way, and of course is better to do preventively rather than after disaster strikes. Best to analyze your other trees as well for vulnerability.
My buckeye is looking surprisingly OK after the loss of the big chunk, but I expect I’ll lose more parts this fall. Just a feeling after looking at the base and how/where the splits occurred. We shall see.

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from martha to just margaret
I was so blessed to visit and document many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as its garden editor and then as editorial director for the company. The list of places we were proud to publish included my own upstate New York home a few years back. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.”
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August Garden Chores

All based on my Zone 5B Berkshire/Hudson Valley location; adjust accordingly.

I SOMETIMES THINK THAT AUGUST, not April, is the cruelest month (though T.S. Eliot thought otherwise). Hazy, hot and humid…and plum tuckered out. But give up we must not. Every weed pulled now is a hundred you don’t have to deal with later (well, who knows the precise math of mama weed to baby weed, but you get the idea: prevention!). Don’t let them go to seed.

WATERING IS another major focus; don’t waste water on lawns, which will bounce back from brown in time when cooler, moister days return.

MAKE A PASS through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Top up mulch in all garden beds if washed or worn away to help in the plight.

TREES & SHRUBS

STOP FEEDING woody plants. Promoting more soft growth in high summer isn’t good; time for them to start moving toward the hardening-off phase of their cycle. No more eats till earliest spring.

TREES ARE especially vulnerable to drought, particularly the oldest and the youngest (those planted in the last few years). Water deeply, as with a Tree-Gator. Ugly…but better than not watering the kids!

ALWAYS BE on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out as discovered. Ditto with suckers and water sprouts.

VEGETABLE, FRUIT & HERBS

AS AREAS COME EMPTY from harvest, build vegetable-garden soil by sowing cover crops: medium red clover now, or perhaps winter rye if you don’t do some areas till mid-fall. These “green manures” will be turned under to improve soil tilth and fertility.

SOW ANOTHER CROP OF PEAS right now for fall harvest (and perhaps freezing for offseason use!). Shelled peas from the freezer really make risotto in January taste like summer.

STRAWBERRY BEDS may appreciate rejuvenation now, if you didn’t get it done last month.

KEEP ASPARAGUS well weeded. Let asparagus ferns grow till frost to feed the underlying crowns.

DID YOU HARVEST GARLIC? Save the best heads for replanting this fall, the ones with the biggest cloves (or order more for fall delivery).

ANOTHER SOWING of chard, radishes, arugula, spinach, turnips, beets and lettuce means succulent fall crops. With salad greens, sow small amounts now and again in 10 days. Direct-sow one more row of bush beans if you don’t have pole beans to rely on for harvest now through fall, but do it fast.

DID YOU START MORE BASIL from seed? Young, fresh plants sown immediately will be better than woody old ones for combining with those fall tomatoes. Is there enough fresh dill coming for late pickles? For peak flavor, basil, sage, marjoram and oreganos, mint, tarragon are best harvested just before bloom. Harvest lavender, rosemary and chamomile as they flower, blossoms and all.

FLOWER GARDEN

DAYLILIES can be dug and divided as they complete their bloom cycle, right into fall, if needed.

PEONIES are best divided and transplanted in late August through September, if they need it. Remember with these fussy guys that “eyes” must not be buried more than an inch or two beneath the soil surface. Want more peonies? Now’s the time to order from places like Klehm’s (see Sources list).

MANY POPULAR ANNUALS can be overwintered as young plants if you take and root cuttings now rather than try to nurse along leggy older specimens. Geraniums, coleus, wax begonias, even impatiens (to name just a few common ones), if grown in good light indoors and kept pinched and bushy, will yield another generation of cuttings for next spring’s transplants. Probably best to expend this effort and space on things you really treasure—an unusual form of something, not the garden variety.

MANY PERENNIALS and biennials can still be started from seed if you hurry, then set out in the fall into nursery beds.

DEADHEAD FADED PERENNIALS and summer bulbs unless they have showy seedheads, or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only).

ORDER BULBS to get varieties you want (see Sources). Remember our “early, middle, late” mantra when doing so.

PREPARE NEW beds for fall planting by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.

RE-EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them, and keep edges clean with regular fine-tuning with grass shears. A clean edge makes a big difference.

GENERAL

IF YOU ARE IN JAPANESE BEETLE territory, handpick (as with other obvious pests like tomato hornworms) in early morning and drown in a can of water to reduce infestation. Plan to try to reduce grub population with nematodes.

GARDENS NEED an inch of water a week from you or the heavens. Check your rain gauge to make sure they get it, and remember: soak deeply in the root zone, don’t spritz things with a sprayer now and again like you’re washing the car. That’s a garden no-no. Pots need extra attention, especially smallish ones in sun, and they also need regular feeding. Be alert!

HOUSEPLANTS

IF HOUSEPLANTS NEED repotting, do it now, while’s they’re still outside (less messy than in the house!). Don’t step up more than an inch (on small pots) or a couple (on large ones). Most plants don’t like to swim in their containers.

LAWNS

MID-AUGUST TO MID-SEPTEMBER is prime lawn-renovation and planting time in the North.

DON’T BAG OR RAKE clippings; let them lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.

COMPOST HEAP

DON’T LET the heap dry out completely, or it will not “cook.” Turning it to aerate will also hasten decomposition, but things will rot eventually even if not turned.
Brief but Juicy

ultimate garden no-no’s
WHEN SOMEONE ASKED in a comment about my point of view on using landscape fabric, the fuse was quickly lit: NO! I said. NO! I’ve rounded up some no-no’s we’ve posted collectively so far, but I bet by now there are a few more things to bitch about. Grab a lawn chair and a cold drink, and we can fester together. Sure beats weeding (which ought to be a garden no-no).

lose anything lately?
THE SAYING GOES THAT a thing of beauty is a joy forever. I guess “forever” in this case is in the mind’s eye. My darling, oldest bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) went down for the count in July, or at least half of it did, and I had already seen the death knell for a couple of my 10 crabapples. Jeez.

true love, really
LOOK, I HAVE A THING for frogs. Call it my little fetish. An issue. Whatever. My general obsession notwithstanding, I’ve finally met THE ONE FOR ME.

hail the stewartia
I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

more, more, more clematis
WHEN I SEE ‘POLISH SPIRIT’ CLAMBERING up and through the golden Chamaecyparis in late spring-into-summer, I realize I have a serious Clematis shortage around here. Not in the Chamaecyparis, specifically, but in lots of other places where things look a little dull. I’ve got a penchant for growing vines up and over otherwise-dull shrubbery, you see.

can-do pruning
REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies
JUNE WAS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting did its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant?
SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.

non-blooming peonies?
Did your peonies not cooperate—was there not a good crop of flower buds, and you don’t know why? This came up on the Forums, and here’s the dish.

twist-off ticks
I AM COMING IN everyday with at least a tick or two on me; not embedded, thankfully, so far, but it's only a matter of time. But I am prepared. Are you?

anything but forsythia
I guess I have a thing against forsythia…even though I have several specimens of it along the fringes of my property. But there are better choices for spring color among shrubs.

surprise (avian) visitors
If you make a garden for birds, or even plant a crabapple or two (or ten), you never know who’ll show up.

magnolias to love
THEY’RE MEMORIES NOW but I couldn't garden without magnolias. Want to know more about the queen of the spring-blooming trees?

order in the garden
I AM LABELING my plants, I am. As memory fades, out comes the label machine, just in the nick. Saved by the Dymo. You can be, too.
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Subjects ranging from feeding and pruning Hydrangeas and pruning clematis, to entertaining (read: ranting) lists and lists of garden no-no’s (not just mine!).

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