Painted Buckeye

Size, growth and what to expect

Painted buckeye grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It grows 10 to 20 feet tall and 6 to 15 feet wide. In the wild it sometimes reaches 30 feet. Seedlings can bear their first seeds at 8 years.

Flowers open in April and May, in upright clusters 4 to 8 inches long. Each flower is a bell about an inch long, yellow, cream or pink, sometimes red. Hummingbirds visit them heavily on their spring migration. The husk holds one to three glossy brown seeds and splits in July and August.

It grows wild from southeastern Virginia to Georgia, Alabama and northwestern Florida, mostly on the Coastal Plain and outer Piedmont. Its home is rich, moist woods, bottomlands and ravines. There it often grows under oaks, hickories and maples.

How to grow Painted Buckeye

Painted buckeye does best in part shade, or in sun with some afternoon shade, in a rich, moist soil that drains well. It does not tolerate dry soil, and drought or strong wind scorches the leaf edges. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and set trees 10 feet apart. Since it stays under 20 feet, it may stand within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and spread mulch over the root zone, clear of the trunk. Buckeye seed dies if it dries out, so sow it as soon as the husks split in late summer. Set each seed an inch or two deep with the pale scar down. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 90 days first.

Water weekly through the first two summers, and in dry spells after that, since dry soil browns the leaves early. Deer browse it only moderately. Let it grow as a clump, or remove the extra stems early for a single trunk.

Each flower cluster carries male flowers and, near its base, flowers with both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. Bees pollinate painted buckeye flowers. In related horse chestnuts most seed comes from crosses between trees, though a tree's own pollen sets some, so a second tree nearby improves the crop. Fruit set is normally light. Every part of the tree is poisonous if eaten, the seeds included, so keep the seeds from children and pets. Powdery mildew, rust and anthracnose can spot the leaves. Bagworms, Japanese beetles and borers are the insects to watch.