When had our first glimpse of the land we now live on, it was the Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) that made my heart go pitter-patter. The view of the beautiful white blooms cascading over the creek bank was what initially caused me to think, "We should live here."

The Bottlebrush (technically more of a totem shrub, I suppose) is one of those plants that are "rare but locally abundant". And yet it will grow almost anywhere. It's not that picky about soil type, sun/shade considerations, etc.