Misery loves company - the winter hall of shame

[WNC Bonsai]

My winter was a tad bit colder than Bonsainut’s and we got down to 0 F one night in December. I lost a bald cypress I got from a dealer in Florida several years ago. As usual it sat in the garage next to the door and just never woke up—no idea why but my other baldies from Louisiana and Tennessee did fine outside in the cold. I also lost all 3 small cork bark Chinese elm cuttings I got off Etsy last fall. I kept those in a window well right next to a larger one and a cork oak I got from Erik Schrader (Bonsaify) so I think the others were poorly rooted cuttings and rushed out the door when we all started ordering them last fall. Another loss was a hemlock planted on a rock. I think the cold just got to those roots flowing down the sides of the rock. It hasn’t completely died, only one side so I may keep it and see if it survives and develops “character”.

 

[rockm]

I lost a bald cypress I got from a dealer in Florida several years ago. As usual it sat in the garage next to the door and just never woke up—no idea why but my other baldies from Louisiana and Tennessee did fine outside in the cold. I also lost all 3 cork bark Chinese elms I got off eBay. I kept those in a window well right next to a larger one I got from Erik Schrader (Bonsaify) so I think the others were poorly rooted cuttings and rushed out the door when we all started ordering them last fall. Another loss was a hemlock planted on a rock. I think the cold just got to those roots flowing down the sides of the rock. It hasn’t completely died, only one side so I may keep it and see if it survives and develops “character”.

FWIW, I think Fla. collected BC aren't as winter hardy as more northerly collected BC. I believe Fla. and La./northern BC are borderline separate varieties. I've overwinter Fla and La collected BC side-by-side. La. trees survived no problem. Fla. trees went toes up first or second winter I had them.

 

[ShadyStump]

Likely adding a Norway spruce, my collected mulberry from last spring, and my newly collected scrub oak to the list.

Only this was someone's dog last night.
Just not sure if it was my new dog or my sister's dog when she came to visit.

Also, two one seed junipers from last spring and fall are nice and crunchy, but I can't be certain if it was weather, care or what.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

FWIW, I think Fla. collected BC aren't as winter hardy as more northerly collected BC. I believe Fla. and La./northern BC are borderline separate varieties. I've overwinter Fla and La collected BC side-by-side. La. trees survived no problem. Fla. trees went toes up first or second winter I had them.

Yes, your previous comments to that effect are why I always wintered it in the garage, but that didn’t seem to matter this year. I know temps in there never got below freezing so I have no idea why it went belly up.

 

[rockm]

Yes, your previous comments to that effect are why I always wintered it in the garage, but that didn’t seem to matter this year. I know temps in there never got below freezing so I have no idea why it went belly up.

Drying out is as much of a problem as cold during overwintering, particularly with indoor sheltering-- Combine a light freeze with dry soil and you get dead roots. Was the tree near a door that lead outside?

 

[jradics]

Climate change has made our weather here in north Texas even more extreme than normal. The last three years we have had unusually warm, mild winters that prevented plants from becoming fully dormant. But then there was at least one brief but catastrophic freeze, often in late winter. I didn't lose any bonsai, but landscape plants were dropping like flies. I am a landscape architect, and now there is a whole list of previously reliable species that we cannot plant anymore.

I work at a wholesale nursery and tell people that these plants are not always winter hardy but people buy them anyway. Gardenia, osmanthus fragran, chindo viburnum, rahpeolepsis, fatsia, etc

 

[jszg]

I'm pretty sure I lost most of my large parson's juniper (mistake - wired during winter? Too much foliage removed?) but some foliage might make it...
My (alleged) 'Myojo' parviflora also is in trouble. On one hand, it has plenty of candles, but on the other the foliage looks 'tired' and yellowing. I reported it early spring, and I suspect at least some dessication during the heat wave we had a week or so ago.

 

[p_anova]

Lost 2 elwoodi pillars, 2 crytomerias, 2 satsukis......sounds like The Grim Reapers ark of shame. I hate everything right now.

 

[Npr90irl]

This last winter was my third in NC, and it caught me off-guard. Call it hubris or distraction, but I clearly was not ready for the record-breaking cold (7 degrees on Christmas day) and did not do enough to prepare my trees. Then we had a warm February and early March, followed by a late two-week freeze in March that beat on a lot of young buds. Though I am still waiting to see if Mother Nature will battle back, I am pretty sure I lost quite a number of trees. It will be the first winter in years where I have lost a tree from cold, and my worst winter that I can ever remember (in general). By next winter I will have moved into my new house, and will have had time to set up a more permanent over-wintering solution. But for now I am fighting through some sadness.

Any one else have sad tree news to share?

I too lost a handful of trees this winter. It was my first winter with my trees where I felt a bit helpless. I flip flopped my overwintering methods in December, out of panic and it just spiraled. Tempting as a greenhouse may be, it is also a ton and a half of work. I’m in Massachusetts zone 6 which is categorized by the low of -10 degrees, and sure as shit we has two days fluctuating between 7 and -10 degrees. I honestly felt I was being targeted by mama nature.

 

[Npr90irl]

Lost 2 elwoodi pillars, 2 crytomerias, 2 satsukis......sounds like The Grim Reapers ark of shame. I hate everything right now.View attachment 483634

That’s a shame. Very nice build and proportion above.

 

[jandslegate]

In containers, I lost an apple that popped up in my yard a few years ago, my privet air layer, a few of my many willow cuttings, all of my grape seedlings save one and the ' mother' grape. A boxwood I bought last summer that had a really cool trunk doesn't look like it's going to pull through which is a bummer as I was really looking forward to working with it. A catalpa I had collected a few years ago, it never was going to be a great bonsai but I just liked it. A black walnut that had a really cool trunk. I have a false Cypress that might pull through but its not looking promising. I lost a few ficus cuttings of various ages. They weren't necessarily lost to the winter weather but it's still the same inexplicable random death that seems to be rampant this year. Oh and a 3 year old juniper that had germinated and hitched a ride in an Azalea I bought a few years ago. The cold didn't kill it but cedar apple rust got a hold of it. I was able to get it under control on another juniper that was showing rust but the seedlings whole trunk was basically orange and only getting worse. It is what it is, I suppose.

In the ground, two different nandina, a Persian lilac, another grape seedling and somehow a black poplar. Two of my butterfly bushes are struggling but finally pushing new growth, the cuttings I had rooted did not make it, my hardy banana apparently didn't make it at the very least I sure can't find it.

This winter was brutal.

 

[Npr90irl]

Frustrating as it may be, we must remember we are cultivating actual trees //shrubs and vines, in containers ABOVE ground. Bacon for breakfast lunch and dessert but not dinner will most likely be our best option. However never mix maple syrup with the bacon, for this will inevitably kill all of your cedrus and North American larch. If you don’t buy reduced sodium you can add weeping Venus flytrap to the list.

 

[Paradox]

I was worried about the lack of winter here this year and concerned that some of my trees didnt get a proper dormancy.

So far I think I have emerged from this winter (or unwinter here as far as Im concerned) with no casualties.
Even the larch I bought last year and suffered in the heat we had seems to have survived.

I did however delay a couple of repots on my more cold hardy trees this year and will see what next winter/spring brings for them

 

[Underdog]

I'm feeling much better about myself now.... LOL One new root over rock start looks bad and 2 indoor tropicals which I loth anyway. They were both one of my first however so a bit sad. Lost a few branches too but all in all not as bad as you all.

 

[mj_barb]

I’m pretty sure I lost this cool little cotoneaster ‘toms thumb’, and a ton of my amurs seedlings from last year are struggling, presumably because they leafed out so early. One J Larch is also struggling to get going.

 

[SC1989]

The only misery that found me this year is the never ending winter, record snow fall in Duluth. Everything thawed, then we got more snow. Buried Everything outside. Even a JBP from seed, lavender. Out of zone stuff survived under all the snow.

 

[jszg]

I'm pretty sure I lost most of my large parson's juniper (mistake - wired during winter? Too much foliage removed?) but some foliage might make it...
My (alleged) 'Myojo' parviflora also is in trouble. On one hand, it has plenty of candles, but on the other the foliage looks 'tired' and yellowing. I reported it early spring, and I suspect at least some dessication during the heat wave we had a week or so ago.

On closer examination, half of the roots died. I slip-potted it from a band to this basket, but perhaps I should have been more wary- originally it was planted in peat.
The side by the dead roots:

that branch, despite the prolific buds, is almost certainly gone. It doesn't even "bleed" sap

The cascading branch appears in somewhat better shape.
None of the candles dried out, though. I will dare to hope.

 

[Pitoon]

This last winter was my third in NC, and it caught me off-guard. Call it hubris or distraction, but I clearly was not ready for the record-breaking cold (7 degrees on Christmas day) and did not do enough to prepare my trees. Then we had a warm February and early March, followed by a late two-week freeze in March that beat on a lot of young buds. Though I am still waiting to see if Mother Nature will battle back, I am pretty sure I lost quite a number of trees. It will be the first winter in years where I have lost a tree from cold, and my worst winter that I can ever remember (in general). By next winter I will have moved into my new house, and will have had time to set up a more permanent over-wintering solution. But for now I am fighting through some sadness.

Any one else have sad tree news to share?

I lost quite a few plants as well this winter. This coming winter from here on out I will provide shelter to most all of my plants.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

They say red cedars are hard to keep alive. My red cedars came through winter fine, but my common juniper is slowly dying. Got at nursery last spring. Thought maybe the nursery mix soil was too wet for it, so put it in a faster draining bonsai mix. Probably too late. It's still waning.
Got a small, bare root canyon live oak last spring. Did O.K. thru the summer but now only has one living branch left.
Going to freeze overnight tonight. Moved several plants to the back patio in preparation for moving them into the garage overnight. Went to let the dogs back inside & saw Caesar had nocked over 3 & pulled my dawn redwood out of its 1-gallon grow bags. Winter took a toll, but Caesar was harder on my trees this year.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Caesar in a less destructive moment