See recent thread (search forum).

Found it, thanks!

Still no answer on the flower heads though..........

TM,

Sorry, I can't answer flower question. Mine is only a couple of years old and no flowers thus far. This shrub is very aggressive, as the previous thread indicates. You didn't mention fall color, but don't expect anything near the vibrancy of the species. I love the season-long foliage of Tiger Eyes, but fall color is a disappointment. I guess you can't have it all. :>(

Bob

{{gwi:280154}}

Doesn't cutleaf staghorn usually/frequently turn mostly orange?

So no decent fall show. I suppose I could live without that (we are only talking a matter of weeks here!). The summer color is stunning - I planted a tiny one in spring but I need to find a new place for it. I assume winter branch structure the same as reg. cutleaf. I guess we'll wait and see on the flowerheads.

The suckering will be a problem though. Hmm....

Depends on what you think of as "decent". One in above photo looks pretty orange, plus it isn't done yet. Autumn color varies, too, another year might produce a stronger effect. If red or pink are what you require, then I don't think any cutleaf staghorn sumac can be counted on to show much decency.

Last yr, which was the first yr. for my Tiger Eyes, the fall color was a pretty spectacular mix of yellow, orange & red/scarlet. It hasn't started turning yet this yr. but will be interesting to see what happens. Like anything, it probably depends a lot on the growing season and will presumably have variable years. Mine hasn't suckered yet, although it has grown like mad this yr. I don't really care if it suckers, though, I very much enjoy this shrub for the jolt of color it adds to the border! Definitely a keeper in my book, but I'm a sucker for Sumac :)

My Tiger Eyes has had absolutely spectacular fall color for several weeks now, with scarlet, orange and yellow, now fading to russet. It is in a pot with light shade this year, and the summer foliage was light green, which I like much better than yellow. Not sure where I will place it in the garden yet, but the pot sure solves the suckering problem, lol.

JL & Karchita,

I'm guessing that your Tigereyes don't look anything like this. There is some color, but about 1/3-1/2 of leaves simply brown-up without developing any color. It's not horrible, but doesn't measure up to typical Sumac standards. I've only had it a couple of years, so hopefully this is just an abberation.

Bob

{{gwi:280155}}

{{gwi:280157}}

Just wanted to report back that my Tiger Eyes did not have good color this yr., looked pretty much like Bob's!

Hey, I see y'all are in Wisconsin. We've had pretty severe (relatively speaking) drought this summer which is turning lots of things brown prematurely-- before they wouldve colored. Those pics look like most of my back yard.

Reporting back after 1 year of growing Tiger Eyes:

Suckering is definitely going to be a problem!

I dug up my Tiger Eyes this spring and re-planted it in another location. It was very small, thought I got all the roots up. Its growing beautifully in its new location (still waiting on the gorgeous yellow colour - I guess they are supposed to start out green?).

However, yesterday I spotted three new shoots coming up where it used to reside. Guess I didn't get all the roots after all! I was glad at first because I missed the bright yellow foliage in its old location. So much so that I wanted to run out and buy another tiger eyes, but the price was $50 this year!!! (I paid $20 last year). So, I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw those new shoots cloming up.

The happiness quickly turned to horror when I realized each of those new plants might produce three more new plants next year, and so on, and so on, and so on......

This will be my 2nd season with the Tiger Eyes. It has started to sucker, but I wanted to move it this fall or early next spring to a new spot and was wondering if I should use a root barrier like people use with bamboo. I wanted to get a mass of the tiger eyes about 8-10 ft wide and as tall. I just wasn't sure if it is worth the effort to use the barrier or to just continuously pull the suckers. The fall color on mine was more in the orange range last year, but not bad.

I think I'll be digging mine up this fall and putting in a root barrier. I moved it to the front garden and don't want it taking over my front yard. I have a piece of a huge plastic tube (about 5' diameter, 4' depth) that I'll plant the TigerEyes inside of.

As for my new shoots, I already lost 1 to bunnies before I could get some netting around them. I'll be digging these up and giving them a root barrier too. I had a regular run-of-the-mill native sumac growing along my back fence and I was pulling up suckers for 4-5 years after I dug it out. Not going through that again! So far, the TigerEyes has proven to be just as aggressive with suckering.

Interesting finding though: the new plants that suckered up in the old location are coming up far yellower than the original plant (so far). They are both in full sun. Not sure what's up with that?!!

I just bought a Tiger Eyes sumac and am reading with
interest about suckering. I had read that they do not
sucker badly, which is why I bought it.

I plan on putting down a weed barrier to start with.
Does the soil type reflect the fall color?

I also just bought an Blacklace Elderberry , and read
that the color is affected by soil type. More acid more
color?? [don't remember where I read this now...]

The price has gone down on these plants. I got mine from
and eBay seller for a total of 24.00 with shipping charges.
VERY nice plant! Very happy with my purchase.

Thanks for letting me ramble.
Mary

My Tiger Eyes is in it's 2nd year, and is sending out shoots twice as far away then it is tall.

I'm askeered. :-O

giboosi_alttara
Uh Oh,
That is scary! Other than the suckering how do you like
it? What did you plant with it for a nice contrasting
color?

Thanks,
mary

It IS gorgeous. I have it planted in front of a line of white pines and a purple sand cherry.

I dug up and moved a bunch of the suckers.

Giboosi Alttra,
Do you have any recent pictures of your Sumac?
I would love to see the contrasting colors.

Mary
z 5b KS

Alas, no pix. I'll try to remember to bring out the camera tomorrow.

Posted 2 pix in the gallery.

I see that this is an excellent choice for a container. This would solve the suckering would it not? I plan on getting one and doing just this. This is a very old thread - but thought I'd start it up again!

My Tiger Eye definately looks sick, brown and leaves falling off... no fall color at all, but I love the contrast of the yellow with my chocolate joe pye that is around it.... and a Summer wine ninebark.
I am hoping it lives. It is in a triangle with weedblock fabric all around the outside of the 6 foot triangle. I would be happy for a sucker right now but then I better be careful what i wish for!

Don't know why I was leaning on the orange fall color before but the pattern I see in my area is a strong pink appearing at least in the beginning, producing a pink-and-yellow pattern. One of the older, as far as it goes specimens I see regularly is very yellow in the summer. It is on the south side of a building in a cool climate. I remember is as going primarily pink in the fall, guess I'm just about to see what it does this year.

I have had a tiger eyes sumac for 5 years. The 2nd & 3rd years it seemed to want to sucker more then the last couple of years. Maybe it slows up once established? I also have a Staghorn Sumac, however that one hasn't slowed down in that department and I have had that one longer.