the drymifolia collective

#149

Seedling of:
"Duke"

Germinated:
2021-11-09

Planted out in early summer 2022. Impressively little damage that winter from 17°F and managed to regrow from above the soil line after 15°F the next winter.

This tree does not have any grafts on it.

Own-root clones of this tree:

#337

Clone of:
Seedling #149

Rooted:
2023-09-03

All updates:

(February 19, 2025) Update -- Lots of leaf damage and maybe a little to terminal buds, but stems look OK on the whole.

(February 8, 2025) Inter-freeze update -- After a few weeks of intermittent mild to moderate freezes (lowest temperature of 25.7°F/-3.5°C), the most exposed leaves look crispy but the lower leaves, stems, and terminal buds all look very happy.

(January 17, 2025) Pre-freeze update -- Looks good.

(December 10, 2024) Update -- No damage from a few mild freezes. Never pushed that threatened fall flush, the terminal buds went dormant instead.

(September 23, 2024) Update -- Growth has slowed but not fully clear whether it's going to try to get one more flush in this year.

(July 23, 2024) Update -- Coming back nicely, though something has been nibbling the leaves. Earwigs? Pill bugs?

(June 28, 2024) Update -- A little slower to get going than some of the other trees this year, but seems healthy enough otherwise. I did give it some fish emulsion this week because of the pale color.

(April 20, 2024) Update -- It was definitely killed back to a point lower on the trunk than the previous winter, but there are a few buds starting to swell.

(March 4, 2024) Update -- It's still hard to be certain, but it looks like the main stem was killed below the branched area where it re-grew last year. However, the main branches do also look alive above that point. Time will tell where it regrows from this year.

(photo taken January 19, 2024)

(January 19, 2024) Freeze update -- Has started dropping leaves, but the stems actually don't look so bad and there are still some green leaves hiding down near the core.

(January 17, 2024) Freeze update -- Looks pretty crispy, but will inspect more closely in a week or so to see what, if anything, seems to still be alive. Was covered with an unheated fleece cover.

(January 7, 2024) Update -- Built a wire cage to make it easier to protect if we get a bad freeze.

(December 25, 2023) Update -- Still no sign of frost damage, and the buds have continued to swell.

(November 29, 2023) Frost update -- No sign of any damage after two nights in a row near 28°F.

(November 19, 2023) Update -- Just realized this one didn't get updated after the first frost almost a month ago. No damage at all from 30°F. No big surprise.

(October 26, 2023) Update -- Last winter's hardiest first-year seedling, and grew nicely this year. Seems ready to start a flush, but hopefully the mild frost this weekend will convince it to stop that.