No one needs tell you when the magnolias are flowering in the park, with their gorgeous flowers viewable from just about anywhere around the park, there’s no doubt they’re the highlight of the park. However, with their performance almost done (the Sweetbay Magnolias have yet to have their turn, though they aren’t the show stoppers of the collection) we wanted to take a minute to draw your attention to one of the other highlights of the park currently worth a look.

The Buckeyes and Horse Chestnuts are in flower and looking spectacular. Where will you find these trees? See the park’s tree grove map here, but they’re located in the central north section of the park.

The park boasts three different Buckeyes and Horse Chestnuts in flower in the grove, easily identified by their flowers. The larger trees covered in large white flowers are Horse Chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum), the smaller tree with deep red flowers is a Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia), and the slightly larger tree with pink blossoms is, as you may have wondered a hybrid of the two and called Red Horse Chestnut (Aesculus x carnea). There is also a Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava) in the Buckeye grove, though it’s not yet mature enough to flower. Another larger Yellow Buckeye near the gazebo is preparing to bloom. The park is also home to a few Ohio Buckeyes (Aesculus glabra), along Park St, which should be in flower now as well.

Now, you may be wondering why some are called Buckeyes and other Horse Chestnuts. The reason has to do with where they are natively found. Those native to North America are commonly called Buckeyes due to the resemblance of the fruit to a deer’s eye. Those trees native to Europe are called Horse Chestnuts due to the resemblance of them to Chestnuts and Ogier Ghislain de Busteq’s visit to the court of Suleman the Magnificent in Turkey where he saw Turkish soldiers feeding the fruit to their horses- hence Horse Chestnut. Busteq later tracked down the tree and sent a young specimen to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Paris in 1576 and from this the tree quickly spread as a lovely addition to gardens everywhere.

The Red Horse Chestnut and Red Buckeye are both not oft planted trees, but make excellent additions to yards, as they do not grow too large to be unwieldy for a residential lot. These two species are not nearly as bothered by the leaf blotch that ravages the larger species. Both will also produce Buckeyes, which any fan of Ohio State will surely appreciate. Interestingly enough, early North American pioneers carried an Ohio Buckeye in their pocket to ward off rheumatism, though it is very important to note that Buckeyes and Horse Chestnuts seeds (the actual buckeyes) are poisonous! Some animals are immune to the poison, aescin, but humans (and reportedly dogs) are not, and though it would take a significant amount to make one sick the Friends do encourage you to watch your pets in the fall when the trees are fruiting.

For now, we encourage you to get out and check out the trees currently in bloom, it’s worth the cost of admission.

~Rick Frantz