Rewilding My Lot

In 2025 I planted a Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) seedling. It dropped its leaves over the winter, as expected, and at the time of my annual tree report in January 2026 it was 7 inches tall.

This is what it looked like in March this year. There is a bamboo stick marker next to it so that I could find it among the surrounding bluebonnet plants.

In the five months following, the tree has made good progress. It has doubled in height, now 14 inches tall, and has finally exceeded the height of its marker stick. In the photo below, I’m pointing to the place where this year’s new growth starts.

Obviously this is still a very young tree and I will need to take care of it during the hot and dry summer months, but this progress is very encouraging.