This week the bottlebrush buckeyes (Aesculus parviflora) were in bloom at Schenley Park. You can see how the shrub got it’s name from the bottlebrush shape of the flower spike.

Here’s what the hillside near Panther Hollow Lake looks like when the buckeyes are blooming.  They were probably planted shortly after the lake was completed in 1909.

These bushes hid an added bonus: When I stopped to photograph them a wood thrush walked out from them and paused to look at me.

Click here to read more about this native shrub, originally from the Deep South.

(photo by Kate St. John)
Historical Information: the first landscape architect of Schenley Park: William Falconer.