So anyone concerned with the lack of winter this year?

[W3rk]

The DC cherry trees are going for a record early bloom this year. The indicator tree is already going.

RIP planet earth!

Our native Red Maples are basically in flower now, or just about to be. It's insanely early.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Our native Red Maples are basically in flower now, or just about to be. It's insanely early.

Oh wow i think i noticed that redness out of the corner of my eye yesterday but dismissed it as not possible.

 

[August]

I dont consider being concerned for my trees that I spent lots of time and money on to be sad.
Those of us getting May weather in February will lose trees if January shows up in March

No offense meant; just a collective BNut jab in the ribs. My hiker buddies are loving the weather and God knows we've had a lot of good powder and bluebird days for the skiiers. I too, am worried about my trees! And on a bigger note, I'm concerned about this kind of winter being more and more regular.

 

[Maiden69]

Not going to say that I am annoyed by the lack of winter as one of the reasons I decided to stay in Texas was THE LACK OF WINTER! And we had plenty of that the last 2 years. With that said, we had plenty of days below freezing, with 3 days right at Christmas day that we where at 0F... I protected my trees in the yard but completely forgot the boxwoods on the front of the house, they are a nice "variegated" half green and half "frozen burnt" yellow.

On a side note, my maples, cherry, bald cypresses, and Chinese pistache are still dormant. The elms and Japanese quinces are pushing green, and my liquidambar orientalis buds are about to open... time to get busy as these next two days are the last ones touching 30 degrees according to the weather report.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I avoid this as much as possible. Keeping them warmer will only trigger more growth.

Much appreciated. I see no signs of life just yet in the garden, but am a little worried. The gameplan is to set up the tent in the garage - my garage has seen better days and the tent will keep things above freezing and in the dark.

I'm otherwise raring to go. Got the rubbing alcohol and ready to start cleaning tools.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Goddamit! February 16th!! What is this, California?

 

[Ininaatigoons]

I have to say that I am.
I am not confident that my trees got proper dormancy.
Its been in the 50s and even 60 here in the last week. Its at least 2+ months too early for that
Worried winter will show up at some point and start killing trees if they start growing now

I agree with you. I’m going to try growing more North American species of trees. Trying to get more in the ground so that 5,10,15 years from now I can start to bonsai. Did you find the Tamarack growing in MN to collect or did you purchase it? I’d like to start one and I’m also ordering some pitch pine seeding this spring.

Easy enough to find online or at the Nursery. Gertens in Minnesota sells all sizes for what I consider affordable. Finding yamadori is tough. You need to know somebody or at least know someone who knows someone. Good news is they grow very fast! You wouldn't think it looking at them in their natural environment, but put in a richer soil and moist not marsh environment will push near 2' a year!

 

[dbonsaiw]

RIP planet earth!

Maybe earth will first send some heavy snow to Fidur and Clicio, and give me a few years to grow BRT outdoors.

 

[hampton]

Back to back days in the 60’s with overnight low of 42 then next week back into the 40’s. Wild stuff. Hopefully it’ll settle down one way or the other

 

[Eckhoffw]

I agree with you. I’m going to try growing more North American species of trees. Trying to get more in the ground so that 5,10,15 years from now I can start to bonsai. Did you find the Tamarack growing in MN to collect or did you purchase it? I’d like to start one and I’m also ordering some pitch pine seeding this spring.

I’ve found tamarack at Gerten’s and actually one at Menards a few years back.
I’ve collected a few from my dads hobby farm in Luck WI,
I’ve you’re interested in helping collect some tamarack from the bog this spring, we could coordinate a time early this spring to go up.
@Dogestoevsky , your also invited

 

[Salvarez]

Here we got a bit too MUCH winter. We had a string of 4 days of low to mid 20's. A bit too much for some of my trees. Even with putting them on the ground, I lost a camphor tree and a button bush. Planting zone recommendations, I found out, are for trees IN THE GROUND. Trees in pots sometimes have a wildly different tolerance for cold weather. Just a heads-up, oaks, camphor and button bush may need extra protection from low temps.

Camphor… what a great idea. Where did you get it? Looks like we are in same zone.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Camphor… what a great idea. Where did you get it? Looks like we are in same zone.

I find scores of them along this stretch of road near my house. Fast growers but not big on ramification. Shoots tend to grow straight up on top of the branches. The few years I've grown them, the cuts don't heal very fast. If you like their evergreen nature, they are fun to play with because they grow fast. I've read they have branch die-off for no apparent reason. I'm in no hurry to get another one.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Living near the Great Lakes I've been noticing the lack of precipitation MI has been getting recently. Every month since June has been below average and continues today.

 

[B-funk allstars]

I’ve found tamarack at Gerten’s and actually one at Menards a few years back.
I’ve collected a few from my dads hobby farm in Luck WI,
I’ve you’re interested in helping collect some tamarack from the bog this spring, we could coordinate a time early this spring to go up.
@Dogestoevsky , your also invited

Thanks for the tips. Gertens can be a dangerous place. There’s always some sort of plant I’d like to buy there. And I might just take you up on your offer. I don’t have any hip waders though just some rubber boots to slog through a bog. I was trying to message you outside of this chain but couldn’t figure out why it won’t let me.

 

[Ming dynasty]

If the tree hasn't broken its buds open (Even a little so you can see the edge of a leaf curled within) the tree has lost 95 percent of its winter hardiness (its ability to withstand freezing) That means, once leaves are present the roots can be killed by freezing and that will kill the tree off in large sections, or all of it.

Bring trees that have broken buds inside frost-free shelter until it's above freezing outside. If leaf buds haven't opened, it's safe to leave them in winter quarters.

With weather like this, DAILY monitoring of tree conditions are needed. I've had maples go from rest to open buds in two days--BTW leaf buds will continue to "move" even if temps have dropped back into freezing if the weather was warm enough to get down to the roots. Warmth below the surface can "lag" behind cold air temps, pushing roots to grow. It's a pain...

Thank you @rockm hope all is well, have a great growing season!

 

[Vincent Tanner]

Here in Eastern Connecticut we’ve had a a pretty mild winter. A lot of normal, below freezing nights, but not very far below freezing. Between 20F and 30F a lot of the time. But we got that one day of -10F and two days later it was 60F. Back to normal stuff now— low 30’s at night, 40’s and 50’s during the day. It’s a wild ride.

 

[sevan]

My amur maple woke up almost a month ago in Atlanta. I repotted it 3 or 4 weeks ago and already had to prune it back this weekend. I brought it inside the last two nights for some lows in the 20s and 30s. Starting tomorrow, the rest of my forecast shows lows in the 60s.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Just finished digging and root pruning my in-ground tridents. They all had swelling buds and some already have small leaves busting out so it was now or next year. My J. larches are popping buds and some of my Am. larches are about ready to open. We’re expecting temps to hit 77 on Thursday so I expect a lot more buds will be popping soon, and then we’ll get another killer freeze to knock them all back!

 

[IzzyG]

Since bringing the trees into winter protection, the struggle has definitely been more about keeping them cold enough, rather than warm enough. It’s been a mild winter in WI(other than 2 short episodes of absurd cold) but having an insulated space with heaters definitely have made it easier. According to the thermostats, they’ve averaged around mid 30s with a few short(couple hours) spikes above 40 so I’ve been happy with it!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

With the exception of my Satsuki and Bursera, all the rest of my trees are outside, on the ground. Some are somewhat out of the wind and sun, all are open top to the sky, so they all stay cold. So far so good. Everything still dormant. Everything still flexible and alive looking, though dormant. Buxus, Acer rubrum, Goji, Diospyros virginiana, ginkgo, mugo, Picea, juniper, etc