Tiger Eyes Sumac "BailTiger"

Hi,

I picked up one of these from a local nursery a 2 gallon size. I am tempted to pick up another one, but cannot make up my mind if this is one of the 'one is good, but more is better' plants. They have dropped all their leaves so I am not sure how they look, and I have never seen one with leaves. They are not on sale, so a deep discount is not a driving factor.
What do you all think? get the other one? one is one too many?

thanks,
xman

I would buy as many as you can. They are one of the most beautiful plants I have. They start with orange/emerald, then chartreuse, then orange/chartreuse fall. Just see these at my house. Spring

Summer.

Fall and the color hangs on and on.

The deep chartreuse in summer. Mixes well with other colors.

After seeing even more of these pictures, this is a definite must have for me too. Do they sucker at all?

A Sumac by any other name is still a Sumac. No need to buy more than one, as your one will forever provide .

I would tend to agree with Kevin that one is plenty. Mine started to sucker the following year I planted. Fall color is nice but not as good as the species. It hints at deveoping the brilliant orange & scarlet of the typical Staghorn, but never quite gets there. Summer foliage affect is easy on the eyes.

The only ones that I have that sucker are the Staghorn varieties. My smooth sumac, and tiger eyes have not run anywhere. Tiger Eyes are 2.5 yrs and Smooth over 8 yrs with no runners. I am anxiously awaiting the tiger eyes to run so I can add them to the rest of my garden. This is my smooth sumac.

When I bought mine I was told that the Tiger Eyes will run a little, but not nearly as much as the natives or the staghorns. It was represented to one that will stay relatively where you put it.

Edited to add: Oh, and I was also told it was only discovered and propogated four or five years ago now. Hasn't been out long.

This message was edited Dec 6, 2006 9:10 PM

If only I will be able to be so lucky!

The only time I saw a runner with the Smooth was when I rototilled the root stock and it produced many plants there. That is how I get more plants. I rototill a small area. near the parent. I agree Kevin that it is only a matter of time. But my Staghorn varieties had "many" runners every year, to a point of wanting to take them out. The 'tiger eyes' I am patiently waiting. I want to build a forest of these specimens. Though I doubt they will reach the tall tree like stature as the others.

Yes, interrupted roots are a spur for many plants to put up shoots. Makes me think of our Kansas hedgerows of osage orange trees. The rows just keep getting wider and wider if you plow or disc too near and cut roots.

Here is a pic of mine from the fall. Color got a little better than this but I didn't capture it on film. Mine has produced several runners in the 2 years that I have had it. I was planning on making some more plants this spring from them.

Love your rocks as always Sofer

Bill

Bill, I think your Sumac has great fall color. I guess I'm going to have plant this after all. I've been considering it for a while but hadn't made up my mind, so many conflicting reports about its yellow coloration in summer and fall. This thread has made up my mind. Great photos Soferguy...

I have really enjoyed this plant, and can't wait to watch it for the entire season next year, as I got mine quite late in the season this year...Late Sept. I have yet to have a visitor to my new garden that hasn't gone straight to this small tree and oooh and aaah... :-) I didn't get much Fall color at all this first season, but that is often the case in newly planted trees. Next year will be a better show I hope.

Bill....lovely pic there of the fall color on yours!

Jamie

Jamie I love you placement because you will be wrapped with color all spring thru fall. I think your time out in the garden will now be spent sitting in the chair and staring into the sun lit 'tigereye'.
Kevin my cutleaf sumac according to VV is a staghorn variety and it does send many runners. I took it out. I too thought that it was a smooth source. VV said that smooth refers to the branching surface. So as soon as I see any fuzzy stuff on the new plant I pull it. That is not a smooth.

This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 9:11 AM

This message was edited Dec 8, 2006 9:12 AM

Soferdig, What are the trees in your summer picture? It looks like you have another sumac on the right, what is on the left? I love your placement too, and jamie's looks more like mine would. I have room behind my Little Zebra grass, and was planning to move a climbing red rose there too, so mine would look like more like jamie's. Jamie, what is your rose? I'm also planning to add some roses with my KF grass, I was thinking Carefree Beauty but don't know for sure.

The Picture with the rocks and the Tiger eye in the center is showing a smooth sumac in the background, a Radiant crab on the upper right, and a lilac tree on the left. I have enjoyed the radiant crab, but the lilac tree has been somewhat dissapointing. No flowers yet and I pruned it heavily this fall so none next year. It grows like a weed though. It may not be true to genetics. Though VV when he saw it said that it was a Jap lilac tree though. This is the same area a couple of years ago from a larger view.

Soferdig~~ Thanks for the kind words! This is such a new garden, only 6-7 months old, that I so appreciate any comments from fellow gardeners!! After near constant work in the garden this year, I absolutely plan to spend some time sitting and enjoying the garden this upcoming season!!

PrairieGirl~~I look forward to seeing how you place your 'Tiger Eye' as it sounds like we have similar garden design tastes... :-) You asked about the rose - the one in the bottom of the pic is 'Royal Bonica', a new rose to me, and one that I have quickly come to adore! Almost constantly in bloom, and so disease resistant it amazes me! Compact as well...never gets unruly. Carefree Beauty is nice too! Here is a shot from the other side of the bed that the Sumac is in....all the plants in it are very, very young, and I look forward to seeing things fill in a bit!! I have roses, daylilies, ornamental grasses, an Abelia, Hardy Geraniums, A new variety of Shasta Daisy called 'Ice Storm' ( http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/126819/ ) with really neat blooms quite different from the norm, and lots of other goodies going in there....it will be a joyous jumble someday -- just the way I like it!

Jamie

Soferdig~~ Gorgeous pic of an amazing border!! I just want to step right through the computer to see it in person.....very nice!! Wonderful use of the large stones in the border...WOW!!

Jamie

Jamie - You do know your roses! Awesome garden, I look forward to seeing more pics in the future. I think I will put my Tiger Eyes in a large pot for a little while, so I can wheel it around the garden until I decide where to plant it LOL.
I really love sumacs.

Sofer - I always enjoy seeing your pics. I'm green with envy that VV got to see your place in person. I'm sure your lilac tree will bloom once you stop pruning it so much! LOL It is hard not to when you want it to grow a certain way, when it does bloom you will know it was all worth it!

Yes I pay the price up front rather than after it is too big. I can always wait for flowers. This is a small tree I bought at the same time as the other but it is in a non-ammended area. It is very beautiful in bloom

I wish I had the room to plant and the money to spend, LOL. I really love your pines, such a breath-taking backdrop to all of your gardens.

When I first moved in I chose a place that did not clear cut and had a mature healthy stand of Ponderosa and Doug Fir. That allowed me to build into the space they gave me. Each year more garden and many more trees and variety of trees. The dedidious have to be backdropped with the conifer.

Way to go, rub it in. LOL I have a huge blue spruce in my front yard, that of course is a great backdrop for the backyard. Not as pretty as a pine, which is a favorite of mine. I guess we all want what we can't have, ROFL.

I am fortunate I want only what I have. But I do go out and visit other areas that I would enjoy. I bring them home in my memories. I think that when you do that you carry them for eternity. That is why I need to visit places in the world. God has created some pretty spectacular gardens. I can't wait to visit the next one. This is my next travel device. It sails, rows, paddles and floats through the Garden of North Saskatchawan and Lake Winnipeg.

Pretty sweet boat Sofer. Did it have a skin on it before? Any leakage? Can you portage it by yourself?

I was lucky enough to have mature spruces along my lot line on 2 sides that I use as a backdrop to many asian maples, dogwood, redbud, serviceberry, crabapple, etc.

Bill

Is that what you perused Lake Athabasca with?

Did you construct it from the sumacs you keep grubbing out?

VV every sumac that had fuzz on it I took out. Thanks to your wisdom. I haven't had the courage to remove the cut leaf but I suspect next year. The rest are just like you always doing the proper thing and following advice of others. With impunity. (I like that word)
It is not the one on the trip last summer. This is my grandfathers canoe that had a canvas skin on it. I am putting on fiberglass and refinishing it with clear epoxy. The next stretch of river is kind of boring with slow water flows and 20 to 50 knot winds from my back for over 1800 miles. Hence the sailing canoe.
Before 1910 when they opened the park (Glacier) this was pretty much a climax forest of Ponderosa Pine. The fires of frequency cleared out the other species. Primarily D. Fir. Well after fire control since the 1911 fire we have had a gradual replacement with Doug Fir. I selected this property to make it a Ponderosa Pine forest like many years ago. I have planted over 20 seedlings in park like setting to allow the Pond P to thrive. Thining the Doug firs to allow for Ponderosa survival. Though they are quite messy dropping many needles I have developed methods of utilizing the pine needle in effective composting. IE lawn broom, large chipper shredder, and a big compost pile. I think the Pond pine conifer is my favorite Pine. A good back drop to many plants.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2006 11:44 AM

That's all I was saying. Nice rudbeckia.

Back to the Rhus. This is another one I have placed under the above Ponderosa P.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I could not get to the nursery earlier as I was travelling, I went there this weekend but the nursery owner refused to sell me the 2 tiger eyes he has left. He said that almost all the tiger eyes he sold this year (it was his first year of tiger eyes) were returned dead or almost dead and he had to throw them out. He is not sure that they are suited for the TX heat, and was going to return the 2 left to the grower (Monrovia).
So I am going to watch how mine does next year, before I get some more.

thanks,
xman

Soferdig...how wonderful to have all that open space and have anything you wish...your gardens are gorgeous...where do you get all the boulders? Are they already there?

My DW and I collect everywhere they are available. The big ones came from a dinamite job across the street which dumped over 30 yards of bolders. The rest of the smaller stuff we get from the property we have up in the mountains. We have hauled many truck loads from "up on the hill". We also collect colored precambrian rocks that are so plentyful here. Just a collection.

You lucky devil

I am so lucky to be here I agree. It is a life choice that has paid off many times. At least at Baltimore you get to go to the national gardens and all the national treasures in DC. Some day we will return to Washington when my friend builds his national treasure there. No name can be mentioned.

ooooooo plueeeez tell me who.............

Sofer, do you think the dry climate/soil or the placement of your tiger sumac in between rocks has an effect on the tendency to sucker? I will have a perfect location for one or more of these next fall, if I can be persuaded that the shrub will not sucker the way regular staghorn does. The suckers are a maintenance NIGHTMARE.