Potting at dormancy break

[leatherback]

They didn't drop leaves until mid-December, so I'd be very surprised if they turned around so quickly.

THis is what I was actually thinking when I started reading your post. If you have no real winter, it might be harder for the trees to decide it is over? In my case, I think first frost was late October. Add 60-90 days and you are righ in January when the tree has filled the dormancy requirements and is considering.. Maybe time to wake up. I saw the first real green in a malus today. It should be frozen everywhere but I guess we have become a not-nearly-winter place.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

THis is what I was actually thinking when I started reading your post. If you have no real winter, it might be harder for the trees to decide it is over? In my case, I think first frost was late October. Add 60-90 days and you are righ in January when the tree has filled the dormancy requirements and is considering.. Maybe time to wake up. I saw the first real green in a malus today. It should be frozen everywhere but I guess we have become a not-nearly-winter place.

This is my first winter here, so I am very curious how my trees will respond. So far, though we have had 20 or more mornings of frost, it is very light. We have only had one or two nights that got down below 20 F... and that was only for an hour or two. We have not had a single day that did not get above freezing. So my Japanese maples did not at first drop leaves. The native maples around here were not turning color until mid-November, and Acer rubrum was not coloring up until December.

So we have been getting a lot of cold in the "sweet spot" of just below freezing to just above. But I'm not joking when I say Tuesday it is supposed to get up to 70 F here (21 C).

 

[Dav4]

This is my first winter here, so I am very curious how my trees will respond. So far, though we have had 20 or more mornings of frost, it is very light. We have only had one or two nights that got down below 20 F... and that was only for an hour or two. We have not had a single day that did not get above freezing. So my Japanese maples did not at first drop leaves. The native maples around here were not turning color until mid-November, and Acer rubrum was not coloring up until December.

So we have been getting a lot of cold in the "sweet spot" of just below freezing to just above. But I'm not joking when I say Tuesday it is supposed to get up to 70 F here (21 C).

It's definitely been a weird winter in the foot hills of the southern Appalachians. I actually noticed that a few of my tridents, shoved under my deck, STILL have a few red leaves hanging on from last year. My winter low in the back yard has been 17 F, with most night time lows in the low 40's to low 30's since the end of November. I want to say that last December and this January have been very average with not much extreme on either side temperature wise... and that's what's weird about it. Any way, I'll bet our trees have met or will shortly meet their typical chill requirements and start to wake up soon... it's forecast to hit mid 60's this week before falling back and I'm expecting to have some trident buds greening up in a week or two.

 

[leatherback]

there is only risk if you get caught by one of those uncommon winter storms that roll through Portland every now and then.

lol, funny to be reading this post. I was just wondering what is happening here. We are having one of those once every few decades storms. Overnight low of 8F, getting very much on the lowest temperatures for my zone. The next 2 nights seem go all the way down to -16c / 3F. And I have done a lot of repotting this winter already. guess this is a good way to see whether I am overly optimistic.