Cedar elms defiant of dormancy

[jferrier]

I moved to the Northwest about a year ago from Texas and brought a couple of dormant collected cedar elms with me. I had these trees for 2 years in Texas and they were doing well. They really grew incredibly well here in the NW this season and pushed out growth well into the fall. So here it is January and they both still have nearly 50% of their leaves and some are still a little bright green as if they are still hardening off. I keep them out of the winter rain but they no doubt are still in a quite humid environment. I was in TX during Christmas and most all the leaves on cedar elms were gone except for a few on saplings buried under leaves. Anyone else in my area have cedar elms, and are yours fully dormant now?

 

[Poink88]

...and I expected the trees to go dormant sooner and longer. Hah! tells you how much I know.

 

[rockm]

My cedar elm here in N. Virgina has long held onto some of its leaves into winter, sometimes as far in as January--until the low temps freeze-dried them. I keep it heavily mulched on the ground in a sheltered spot beginning in early December. It's done this for over a decade. Doesn't seem to hurt it a bit.

Your trees sound quite healthy. I wouldn't worry about it that much IF the roots are sheltered from freezing...

 

[jferrier]

Ok good to know

No worries then. I'm thinking maybe the longer summer daylight hours here and cooler summer temps than TX may have caused this.

 

[art-rodriguez]

cedar elms in the northwest

one of my cedar elms has lost most of its leaves and the other still has most of them.
these were collected by vito megna long time ago.
here's pics of them.
i live in Vancouver, WA. by the way.

 

[Zach Smith]

No worries then. I'm thinking maybe the longer summer daylight hours here and cooler summer temps than TX may have caused this.

It's been a strange year all around. Some of my trees have held onto green leaves until now, others lost theirs two months ago. I was out collecting bald cypress two weeks ago, and some still had green foliage on them. I have one in a tub I've been working on for a couple of years that still had green foliage on it last weekend. I was on my way to collect some crape myrtles last weekend and notice a red maple blooming. I take this to mean we'll have an early spring again this year, down here in the Deep South. So I guess you just never know what's going to happen.

But your cedar elm will be fine. They're awfully hard to kill. I had a client in the early 90s who used full-strength Roundup on some mistletoe infecting a big cedar elm (another Vito Megna specimen), and though it weakened the tree it didn't kill it.

Zach

 

[jferrier]

one of my cedar elms has lost most of its leaves and the other still has most of them.
these were collected by vito megna long time ago.
here's pics of them.
i live in Vancouver, WA. by the way.

Art- I think I spoke w/ you about cedar elms a little bit before I moved. How long have yours been in the ground here? I would have thought it too wet for them to survive here in the ground.

 

[jferrier]

I only wish

I had discovered these neat little trees sooner and dug more of them before I moved here. My family has acreage in north TX with so many shrubby cow munched cedar elms you could just about throw a rock blindfolded and hit one.

 

[berobinson82]

i had discovered these neat little trees sooner and dug more of them before i moved here. My family has acreage in north tx with so many shrubby cow munched cedar elms you could just about throw a rock blindfolded and hit one.

road trip!