Spring is just around the corner and I'm so excited! The narcissus are peeking up through the mulch, yellow heads waving in the breezes. Forsythia is beginning to bloom.....again. The red maples are already blooming. There are plump buds ready to burst open on both the sweetspires and the red buckeyes.
These red buckeyes are on our bank - the riparian zone between our house and the lake. They are critical deterrents to erosion, along with other native foliage. As well, they offer brilliant red blossoms every spring. Our bank looks like it's on fire, there are so many red buckeyes that we've kept and maintained. The hummingbirds love them and seek them out immediately when they return from points South.
Red buckeyes appear rather alien at the beginning, much like Invasion of the Body Snatchers pods or something. As beautiful as they are at springs first blush, they appear awkward in the budding stage, with gangling fingerlings of new leaves unfurling and a brainy looking mauve bud slowly emerging from the center. The buds burst into candles of bright red blossoms which last well into the first of summer. By mid-summer the leaves are already turning yellow and dropping off, which makes them questionable specimen plants for a front yard but perfect for riparian protection. These are one of my favorite native plants. They can become a small dogwood-sized tree or can be pruned into shrubs. Red Buckeyes. Lovely.
Spring is just around the corner and I'm so excited! The narcissus are peeking up through the mulch, yellow heads waving in the breezes. Forsythia is beginning to bloom.....again. The red maples are already blooming. There are plump buds ready to burst open on both the sweetspires and the red buckeyes.
These red buckeyes are on our bank - the riparian zone between our house and the lake. They are critical deterrents to erosion, along with other native foliage. As well, they offer brilliant red blossoms every spring. Our bank looks like it's on fire, there are so many red buckeyes that we've kept and maintained. The hummingbirds love them and seek them out immediately when they return from points South.
Red buckeyes appear rather alien at the beginning, much like Invasion of the Body Snatchers pods or something. As beautiful as they are at springs first blush, they appear awkward in the budding stage, with gangling fingerlings of new leaves unfurling and a brainy looking mauve bud slowly emerging from the center. The buds burst into candles of bright red blossoms which last well into the first of summer. By mid-summer the leaves are already turning yellow and dropping off, which makes them questionable specimen plants for a front yard but perfect for riparian protection. These are one of my favorite native plants. They can become a small dogwood-sized tree or can be pruned into shrubs. Red Buckeyes. Lovely.
6 comments:
It's so lovely hearing about all the things that are starting to come into bloom in others' gardens. :) It seems like we're so far away from that here in NS, but it won't be long now. :) Your red Buckeye is a show-stopper!
Interesting plants. I don't think I have ever seen them before. Spring is good!
Ditto from me, Nancy Bond (who lives close to me)! I just posted my own thoughts on spring on my blog yesterday...you can see they are much, much different than these...
But isn't it lovely to know how the rest of creation lives and blooms, while we still slumber?
Your red buckeye photos are wonderful...it is an incredible looking bloom as it unfurls...I do love these wonderful trees and have one that I transplanted and it won't be blooming this year.~~and I did just purchase the Bottlebrush buckeye and have great hopes for it, too! gail
Cool red buckeye photos! Wish we could grow these trees in central Mississippi, but, alas, I have tried to no avail.
Isn't it great to see signs of spring popping out and up?!
Jon at Mississippi Garden
While we are still a good full two months before anything buds, your description of the red buckeye sound so full of love and promise. Your love for the buckeye is evident. I'd love to see one some day though your photos are superb.
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