A Sumac Surprise

Tiger Eyes sumac: Beauty or beast?

Planted one sumac the summer of 2009;
it didn't sucker in 2010 but is on the move now

There's a corner of my yard that I don't see very often.  It's a sliver of flat yard behind my shed that ends in a sharp slope down to my neighbor's and farther down still to our back yard.

There were two huge box elders on the slope that we had an arborist remove because they were hollowed out and leaning over our house.  That left an exposed slope that needed shoring up and fast.  I planted one Tiger's Eye sumac and 2 Gro-Low sumac.  I left them to their own devices and they not only survived but thrived in their new steep but sunny home.

Tiger's Eye is a type of staghorn sumac, which is on Wisconsin's invasive list, despite being a native plant.

So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find that my Tiger's Eye, which isn't supposed to sucker as aggressively as the species (according to the sales spiel), has spread out down the slope with at least 4 new sprouts, a couple of them about 10 ft away.  Oopsies!

Another plant that seems to like its new home is my Caroline Moonlight baptisia, which I wasn't sure was going to do well.  Surprise, surprise,  while weeding in my mini prairie, I found baptisia seedlings.  Carolina Moonlight won't come true from seed so I'm curious to see what color flower the seedlings will produce.



Carolina Moonlight Baptisia: It didn't bloom for long
 but I really like those mellow yellow blooms