I love the shape, texture and flowers but don't want to plant a tree that will be plagued by problems.

I've found that this hybrid is superior to its parents, but is commonly inflicted with blotch.

I just don't want to make the mistake of planting short lived trees. I consider anything less than 30 years worthless, unless the goal is temporary.

Good Luck

ken

I should have mentioned I was looking at the cultivar "Briotii"

"Except to some extent in the cultivar 'Briotii', the foliage is dark and the flowers are not a pure color, so the tree should be used for occasional variation and not for massed effect"

--Mitchell/Jobling, Decorative Trees for Country, Town and Garden (1984, HMSO Books, London)

Ditto to Bboy on the rather muddy red flowers. Also, as visible in the pics above, the leaves are rather crumpled and not anything to get excited about when the tree is out of flower. The most attractive species for foliage are Aesculus flava and Aesculus indica.

Resin

trust me... the flowers never look like the pix .... except in the most perfect moment of light .... they do tend to look much pinker in full sunshine .... the camera did a nice job making them red

ken

I just want to pick one of he best Aeculus for leaf scorch and blotch.

Those of too culprets of Aesculus looking terrible in August/September.

I just want more trees with a coarse texture yeilding an ornamental feature. Maybe I go back to the Flava/Octandra or one of its hybrids.

I'm defintly not worried about the true flower color.
I just want one of the best Aeculus varieties for leaf scorch and leaf blotch resistance.

Both scorch and blotch seem to be the culprets of the terrible looking foilage in August/September. But the question is, is it really as common in the midwest as mentioned on the web (specifically Aesculus x carnea's cultivars)?

Maybe I need to go back to the Flava/Octandra or one of its hybrids. But only if its a better choice from a disease and pest resistance perspective over a Yellowwood.

ken

Nurseries sell them around here and but they run out quick (so I can't look at them in late summer). I also have NEVER seen one planted in a home landscape before.

I've only seen one Aesculus planted outside a firestation and its leaves are all brown in early Septemeber.

what is the big deal.. that a tree browns in sept in z5 .. when the leaves all fall off 30 days later????

do all the leaves in your yard.. have to turn color and fall off all at the same time...

btw.. that is not a quercus above ...

ken

I guess brown is a color too.

It will be a game time decision in spring between Briotii and a Yellow Buckeye hybrid (quality branching structure will win)

Resin

One Ohio nursery owner I've spoken to feels Homestead may have the best foliage of the Aesculus he's grown. I haven't seen it for sale here in SE Michigan.

One of the local growers in my area has 'Autumn Splendor' in his fields - my observation has been that fall foliage quality and color is not as good as advertised.

Another species you might consider (that I've seen at 2 different locations in NE Ohio) is Aesculus chinensis. I haven't seen it in flower or in fall, but the summer foliage is very attractive. I've heard that the flowers are outstanding. Not sure about hardiness farther north.

Others may have more experience with/input on chinensis. It is probably one of the most impressive of the Aesculus, but it may be difficult to obtain.

I can't comment on Aesculus Pavia's flower color (which I'm not too concerned about). Since this variety is more finicky about moisture and sunlight it is known to scorch and defoliate by late summer.

Aesculus x carnea is considered superior to both its parents, one of which is Aesculus Pavia, for general landscape use.

Aesculus pavia (gives thumbs up)
Aesculus carnea (gives thumbs up)

Now, since they tie in susceptibility to problems, we move on to flowers. Aesculus pavia has much brighter red flowers and there are more of them and they are attractive to hummingbirds! Aesculus carnea has flowers but they are not bright red, they do not attract hummingbirds, and there aren't as many as aesculus pavia.

Aesculus pavia (gives thumbs up)
Aesculus carnea (gives thumbs down)

I believe M. Dirr talks about Pavia in one of his popular books.

Resin

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Its good to hear more about these plants.

The nurseries are pretty much worthless around here.

Which is closer to the 30' desired height depends on how long you want to wait, where happy enough red buckeye grows that tall and taller in time. Red horsechestnut has grown more than double that height in some locations.

ken