I was very disappointed with mine. I think it is a waste of space. They are short and full. The blooms last a very short time, maybe a week.

short and full? Was yours in a very sunny spot? When I see native plants they occur as understory trees in a lot of shade and actually seem leggy.

I guess I did not describe that well. Yes, it is an understory. It has a short trunk and a lot of branches. The height of the tree is about 15ft. It is about 10 years old.

The first one I saw was at San Antonio Botanical Gardens. It was very similar in size to an average redbud tree It was out in full sun.

Sorry... I should have said, it reached this height in 3 1/2 years, after being munched on by deer, dug up, relocated, and getting re-established.

I like mine. I already knew what it was like before I got it and I've always admired them. Of course, when it does bloom, it's divine! The rest of the time it's a nice large bush...makes some interesting seed capsules.

I had to look at pictures to see if that is the one I have. Nope. Mine has spires of red flowers in the spring, large leaves with about 5 segments, and produces a big seed about the size of a quarter. It's an understory tree that I had seen growing in east Texas, and I bought mine from a native plant nursery in Louisiana. I like mine, and would probably like the Mexican one as well. I like odd ball plants.

Marilyn, you probably have Red Buckeye, which grows in east Texas. If you ever have any seeds you'd like to give away, I'd love to try growing some. If my little Mexican buckeye ever seeds, I'd swap!!!

Lin (moving to east Texas SOME DAY!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Buckeye

When we moved in there were two of them here. They were huge and we eventually chopped them down because they were so massive...about 10' round bushes. I didn't get around to rooting them up and by the end of the growing season (2 months) they both had bushed out and completely covered the old wood from new ground up suckers and limb buds. We decided to leave them for another season because they make a wonderful bush because of all the suckers they put out. But as other have stated, the blooms are small, very short lived and the seeds they produce wind up everywhere. In the winter, they're horrible looking so we're on the fence about them. I'll either keep them in a bush format or suck it up and dig up all the roots which I'm not looking forward to. Extremely drought tolerant though, we have yet to water them ever. They do bloom early, right about when the hummingbirds are returning so they're an ok attractant for them.

fwiw

re: this person wanting seeds from the red buckeye

plants that tend to sucker agressively like that can often be propagated from root cuttings. So if someone else wants to get rid of it, that may be faster than seeds.

I have a question, is it also called a bottle brush? Thanks,

This is what I knew as bottle brush, when growing up in south TX.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Has anyone tried growing the Mexican, or Texas, Buckeye from seed? I'm curious as to how deep to plant, how long to germination, watering needs, etc.

Actually, I have 3 babies I grew from seed this winter. I planted them in pots this fall and just left them outside. I lost a couple that sprouted early to those January freezes, but then some sprouted later. They are now a foot tall.