famartin, can you confirm your central NJ plant - zone 6 I assume? - was just a random seedling and not a hardiness selected cultivar?
BTW it seems to me the term "central NJ" usually refers to lower Northern NJ - the parts immediately west of NYC. At any rate, it's a somewhat ambiguous term compared to some states. Can you at least give us a county reference? Would shed more light on the damage you are seeing. Some areas along the Delaware could be called central NJ but are comparatively mild, I think there are tiny slivers of 7b all the way up to Trenton but this year they surely all went below 5F.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Apr 11, 14 at 2:58

Trenton-area, so probably technically 7A on the maps. This winter was the first winter in 20 years that it went below zero degrees F, though only barely... -1 degree F. The duration of the cold was very impressive too, and also how the cold lingered into March with 2 days with lows down to +10 degrees F early in the month.

It wasn't any special cultivar, just a random seedling, ordered from Forest Farm back in autumn '09 (after my visit to Redwoods National Park). The first 4 winters, it usually had a bit of winter-kill, but nothing really major... needle tips, a few branchlets. It had seen temps as low as +3 degrees F a couple years ago with much less damage, but the duration of cold and frozen ground is probably what did it in. Damage was not yet very apparent in late January, so I think the extensive period of snow cover with frozen ground beneath during February may be what really hurt it a lot.

Here's the daily weather data. Columns are:
Date (YEAR-MONTH-DAY),
High temperature (degrees F),
Low temperature (degrees F),
Precipitation (rain+liquid equivalent of snow in inches), Snowfall (in inches)

2013-12-01.........49.........29..............0............0
2013-12-02.........50.........34..............0............0
2013-12-03.........53.........34..............0............0
2013-12-04.........52.........32..............0............0
2013-12-05.........58.........47.........0.02............0
2013-12-06.........62.........37.........0.78............0
2013-12-07.........40.........29.........0.08............T
2013-12-08.........30.........24.........0.33.........3.0
2013-12-09.........35.........30.........0.36............T
2013-12-10.........33.........23.........0.45.........3.7
2013-12-11.........32.........16..............0............0
2013-12-12.........27.........17..............T............T
2013-12-13.........36.........18..............0............0
2013-12-14.........31.........26.........0.52.........2.4
2013-12-15.........40.........28.........0.28............T
2013-12-16.........32.........17..............0............0
2013-12-17.........30.........20.........0.08.........0.8
2013-12-18.........37.........19..............0............0
2013-12-19.........45.........22..............0............0
2013-12-20.........50.........31..............T............0
2013-12-21.........64.........39..............T............0
2013-12-22.........68.........59.........0.04............0
2013-12-23.........62.........41.........0.54............0
2013-12-24.........41.........26..............T............T
2013-12-25.........28.........18..............0............0
2013-12-26.........39.........21..............T............T
2013-12-27.........43.........25..............0............0
2013-12-28.........56.........26..............0............0
2013-12-29.........45.........37.........1.16............0
2013-12-30.........45.........24..............0............0
2013-12-31.........34.........20..............T............T
2014-01-01.........36.........21..............0............0
2014-01-02.........33.........18.........0.43.........4.4
2014-01-03.........18...........1.........0.22.........3.3
2014-01-04.........27..........-1..............0............0
2014-01-05.........48.........10.........0.26............T
2014-01-06.........59.........11.........0.38............0
2014-01-07.........11...........2..............0............0
2014-01-08.........22...........8..............0............0
2014-01-09.........33.........18..............0............0
2014-01-10.........35.........25.........0.28.........0.2
2014-01-11.........63.........35.........0.59............0
2014-01-12.........53.........31.........0.02............0
2014-01-13.........57.........27..............0............0
2014-01-14.........50.........40.........0.23.........0.0
2014-01-15.........51.........32..............0............0
2014-01-16.........40.........28..............T............T
2014-01-17.........43.........22..............0............0
2014-01-18.........37.........22.........0.06.........0.5
2014-01-19.........38.........20..............0............0
2014-01-20.........48.........33..............0............0
2014-01-21.........34.........12.........0.48.........8.3
2014-01-22.........17...........3..............T............T
2014-01-23.........21...........6..............T.........0.1
2014-01-24.........19...........4..............T............T
2014-01-25.........25.........12.........0.10.........2.4
2014-01-26.........25.........14..............T............T
2014-01-27.........46.........20..............T............T
2014-01-28.........20.........11..............T............T
2014-01-29.........22.........10.........0.06.........0.9
2014-01-30.........27...........4..............0............0
2014-01-31.........42.........17..............0............0
2014-02-01.........47.........28..............0............0
2014-02-02.........54.........26..............0............0
2014-02-03.........42.........25.........1.09.........7.5
2014-02-04.........33.........19..............T............T
2014-02-05.........36.........30.........1.30.........0.1
2014-02-06.........30.........21..............0............0
2014-02-07.........32.........19..............0............0
2014-02-08.........27.........18..............0............0
2014-02-09.........28.........19.........0.14.........2.1
2014-02-10.........28.........14..............0............0
2014-02-11.........25.........10..............0............0
2014-02-12.........24...........3..............T............T
2014-02-13.........35.........21.........1.83.........8.5
2014-02-14.........42.........27.........0.14.........1.5
2014-02-15.........37.........26.........0.12.........0.9
2014-02-16.........28.........19..............0............0
2014-02-17.........32.........15..............0............0
2014-02-18.........41.........24.........0.19.........2.1
2014-02-19.........45.........23.........0.30............T
2014-02-20.........48.........28..............0............0
2014-02-21.........52.........35.........0.15............0
2014-02-22.........54.........30..............0............0
2014-02-23.........53.........32.........0.01............0
2014-02-24.........39.........28.........0.02............T
2014-02-25.........32.........21..............T............T
2014-02-26.........31.........14.........0.04.........0.5
2014-02-27.........32...........8..............T............T
2014-02-28.........22...........8..............0............0
2014-03-01.........38.........10..............0............0
2014-03-02.........40.........29.........0.04............T
2014-03-03.........32.........13.........0.04.........0.4
2014-03-04.........28.........10..............0............0
2014-03-05.........40.........19..............0............0
2014-03-06.........31.........17..............0............0
2014-03-07.........38.........25..............0............0
2014-03-08.........56.........32..............0............0
2014-03-09.........44.........36.........0.01............T
2014-03-10.........53.........36..............0............0
2014-03-11.........64.........38..............0............0
2014-03-12.........67.........25.........0.16............0
2014-03-13.........31.........19..............T............T
2014-03-14.........48.........20..............0............0
2014-03-15.........59.........42..............T............0
2014-03-16.........42.........30..............0............0
2014-03-17.........34.........21.........0.02.........0.6
2014-03-18.........44.........27..............0............0
2014-03-19.........45.........30.........0.77............0
2014-03-20.........53.........40..............0............0
2014-03-21.........52.........34..............0............0
2014-03-22.........65.........33..............0............0
2014-03-23.........44.........26..............0............0
2014-03-24.........34.........20..............0............0
2014-03-25.........39.........19..............T.........0.1
2014-03-26.........36.........25..............0............0
2014-03-27.........44.........20..............0............0
2014-03-28.........63.........32.........0.05............0
2014-03-29.........58.........44.........1.71............0
2014-03-30.........47.........38.........0.57............0
2014-03-31.........55.........37.........0.01............0

This post was edited by famartin on Fri, Apr 11, 14 at 5:57

For reference, here's the photo of it. There was snow on the ground from the storm on January 21st all the way until early March.

Here it was back on January 23rd, for reference... still mighty green.

Just crunched a few more numbers, and it turns out the January-February-March period was the coldest in 36 years, since the winter of 77-78. That ranks it among the top 10 coldest January-March periods on record, going back to the 1870s.

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks for the update. I too had many plants that looked surprisingly well after the first round of freezes.
The cold winters of 1985 and 1994 still had more serious single bouts of cold. In 1994 you could walk from DC to Virginia on the Potomac, not this year. But yes this was definitely the worst overall winter since 77-78. The difference is that some parts of the east coast had had a serious drought before that one, and so the cold did much more damage to established plants. I'm told by an old-timer that some huge, mature Ilex opacas in the MD suburbs of DC were killed by a combination of dessicating winds and drought stress.
Here's a (thumbnail) pic of my 'Atlanta':
{{gwi:677975}}
and of the top of my 'Soquel', which I informally measured, it's closer to 8' tall.
{{gwi:677976}}
May not show very well in that picture, but the buds are already swelling.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Apr 11, 14 at 12:36

Up here in Connecticut. Same issues with mutli-month super cold.. It is still alive though.. Starting to bud!

{{gwi:677977}}

J

Taxoman, how close to the LI Sound are you? Did it get any ice on it this year? The last winter it froze enough to walk on appreciably was apparently 1977.

We lost sleep over this winter. Just imagine the last really, REALLY cold winter which was 1899. The Atlantic froze all the way down to Virginia Beach! And ice was recorded blocking the mouth of the Mississippi, for only the second (and hopefully last) time in recorded history. There were almost as cold winters in 1918, and 1934. All of the major Philly area arboreta tried Sequoia semprevirens from a collection made in the 1900s, yet by 1940 only one of the original 6 plants was surviving. It's possible those winters finished them off, or the perhaps it was the droughts of the 1930s. This is recorded in an old book about Philly gardens that was written in the early 40s, and is in the collection of Longwood Gardens.
Just a good reminder we can never take these for granted on the east coast - if nothing else, lightning will one day top them if they reach above the deciduous forest canopy!

Wow Taxo, yours looks worse than mine, but you say its budding already? Good news I guess, just hope there isn't a late freeze to give the tender buds a little whack that the tree just can't tolerate right now.

I'm 2,300 miles away from mine right now (photo was texted to me) so I'm not sure if mine has started to bud.

FYI, I recall that there is a relatively good sized Redwood in Philly, at Barnes Arboretum, at present. I wonder how its doing after this winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Barnnes Arboretum post about S. sempervirens

It's probably fine. It was not as bad a winter as 1977, and the plant survived that when it was much younger. And 1985 got colder in an absolute sense...surely below 0F in outer Philadelphia. It was planted in 1971.

Indeed, yeah that makes sense. I'm just curious if it has as many brown needles as mine does.

Hey guys!
I am actually very close to the sound.. About a 1/4 mile away. The sound didn't freeze over, except for some smaller shallow areas that hug the shoreline..That's some neat info on the previous freeze, David!
Your 'Atlanta' and 'Soquel" are really nice. Makes me want to get a Soquel.. Mine, like Famartin's is a straight species seedling.

Famartin, that redwood in Philly looks great! Glad to see an older specimen is out there.. Mine almost has the characteristic of a deciduous conifer. The growth from the previous year usually dies, followed by a regrowth. As a result it hasn't grown much in the last few years, except in trunk mass..
Your tree looks good! Let's circle back with updated pics once new growth appears.

Jeff

Taxo, yeah I'm curious how that Redwood in Philly looks now, that was an old pic. Probably a lot of brown needles. Maybe I'll try to visit it next month.

more info about the Barnes Coastal Redwood

Here is a link that might be useful: BF Blog

Interesting, thanks for posting. In my correspondances there was nothing said about a 1980 tree, but its good to know a bit more about their origins. (what a strange blog - their way of showing hyperlinks is really bizarre)
Looks like they are having one free garden opening this year, on May 3rd. Still debating about whether it would be worth it to go visit. But other than that, apparently they see holding expensive "gardening classes" for which one is awarded a "certificate" as a more profitable means of exploiting the garden. One can't help but think Mr. Barnes is rolling in his grave. Nonprofits seem to have really become obsessed with the bottom line in the past 10-15 years. In some cases you can forgive them because donations really were drying up...such is the case of the National Cathedral and their closure of the wonderful greenhouse, which was by far the most interesting garden center in DC proper. (and one of the best in the whole DC area, period) As for what happened at the Barnes, that's much more ambiguous...there's a whole documentary film about it in fact:

Here is a link that might be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_the_Steal_%282009_film%29

Extra credit question...

Is it genetically possible to hybridize Metasequoia with Sequoia?

That could be interesting, if it were possible.

No, Sequoia is the only hexaploid conifer, it won't cross with anything else.

Finally got to view mine in person today for the first time since January. It doesn't look much different from the picture from about a month ago yet. Its definitely still alive (did the scratch test to be sure) and found a few scattered buds starting to grow, but most buds were definitely killed so its going to have to do some regeneration in that department, for sure.

So today I looked closely and removed any branches which had completely succumbed. Also counted a grand total of *4* buds actually starting to grow. Here's the photo from before I began to cut.

And here's the photo after I cut the purely dead branches off. Some have dead tips but I wasn't going to go chopping off all the little dead tips.

More buds have started to show themselves and the ones noticed earlier have expanded into small tufts of growing needles/stems.

I hate to be a bumper but...any news famartin?

All of mine recovered completely; by late summer you have had no idea anything had happened to them. Am increasingly concerned about this winter as the "polar vortices" seem never to have retreated this year. OTOH, NOAA CPC is not calling for a colder than normal winter. So maybe there's a ray of hope. The northern tier of states getting snow covered so early does not bode well though...and apparently the Great Lakes never really warmed up to normal temp. levels this summer.

Here's how it looked in August. Mostly recovered.

My completely unofficial opinion is that we'll end up with another cold winter east of the Rockies. But I don't foresee it being worse than last year.

Great news. They are tough plants, I guess it's the extra chromosomes haha.
I will fertilize a couple of mine next spring, for the first time. Provided they aren't too injured by this winter. Should be interesting. Soquel still managed to put on almost 3' of growth this year, in addition to having to regenerate most of its foliage.

Well.... one thing that protected me last winter was snow cover. If we get the same temps but little/no snow cover, the soil would freeze much deeper and effects could be much worse on sensitive trees...

Yes I agree last winter would have been real disaster without snowcover.
Although an interesting thing is that statistically, it seems the coldest winter lows are often accompanied by snow cover. It's the snow cover over a large area that helps temperatures really fall, due to its high albedo.

Yes. The exception I remember is Jan '85 in VA that hit -20F with bare ground, and it killed every cryptomeria, mimosa, kudzu vine (good), and most Leyland cypresses.

Wow, that's interesting. I've seen some Cryptos in Reading & Carlisle, PA, that seem like they probably preceded 1985, but who knows. Maybe that did have snow cover up there. Certainly ones in SE PA survived 1985, like this one -

Here is a link that might be useful: https://plantexplorer.longwoodgardens.org/weboi/oecgi2.exe/INET_ECM_DispPl?NAMENUM=5766&DETAIL=1&startpage=1

David, I found this street-view of an old cryptomeria in Williamsport, Md that had been hurt real bad by cold but subsequently recovered a fair bit. Certainly there in 1985 & prb'ly in 76-77. Unusual recovery for a conifer:

Here is a link that might be useful: Cryptomeria in Williamsport

Here's how it looks now.
{{gwi:677980}}