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Dwarf Red Buckeye
The Dwarf Red Buckeye tree, Aesculus pavia, is one of the first plants in the woodland to reawaken in spring. The Red Buckeye trees starts sending out tender new leaves as early as February, up to a month before the surrounding oaks and maples show any sign of renewed life. Red buckeye’s lavish carmine flowers come early, too, and are an important source of food for hummingbirds in the months before most other plants are in flower. This deciduous tree is a wonderful little tree to plant at the edge of a woodland garden, near a patio, or as the focal point at the curve of a path. It is especially pretty when underplanted with early spring wildflowers. Its large, drooping, dark green leaves provide plenty of interest throughout the growing season. The lush foliage also provides excellent cover for songbirds. Red buckeye should be recommended to all impatient gardeners, because it brings instant gratification: It starts blooming when it is just 3 feet tall. It is known for its deep crimson flowers borne in early summer. It is easy to grow. ... additional information
Swamp Chestnut Oak The Swamp Chestnut Oak tree, Quercus michauxii, is known also as a basket oak for the baskets made from its wood, and cow oak because cows eat the acorns. One of the important timber trees of the South, it grows on moist and wet loamy soils of bottom lands, along streams and borders of swamps. The high quality wood is used in all kinds of construction and for implements. The acorns are sweet and serve as food to wildlife. Swamp chestnut oak trees are well-formed and become quite large (80 feet tall) with a narrow crown. Swamp Chestnut Oak strongly prefers soils that are moist, permanently moist, or permanently wet, and tolerates standing water (as in periodically inundated floodplains) for several weeks at a time. Good seed crops occur at intervals of 3-5 years with poor to fair production in between. Swamp chestnut oak trees are deciduous and have leaves that vary from four to eight inches in length, are downy beneath and turn a rich crimson in the fall. A good shade tree. |
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