I don't have experience in zone six, but just north of Chicago, mine is growing like a weed. I thought I would need to water more often, but this tree is tough. I usually give it two deep soaks each summer and that's it.

Sounds good. How hot are your summers? We get mid 90s sometimes weeks in a row in July. Occasionally 100+. This year has been a bit milder than the last few though.

i have a slew of different larix species and large cultivars ...

all are near bulletproof after establishment in my z5 MI ... where i have nearly the same summer heat ... and they all just went thru a z4 winter ... w/o damage ... and 3 years of drought ....

i have lost a few of the foo foo dwarves ... one was Larix laricina 'Blue Sparkler' ... and i have no clue why ... i suspected too much shade on a blue plant ...

that is my info.. i dont know if it helps you ...

ken

ps: once established.. on my sand.. they never get watered ... but for mother nature .... but are heavily mulched ...

I'll see weeks in a row of upper 80's low 90's on a hot year. It can get up to 100 for a week or so at times.

I don't currently have any dwarf varieties, but plan on adding some. My tree is a common Tamarack from West Central Wisconsin. It's taken the transplant in stride and has put on an average of a foot a year. With virtually no attention.

I wouldn't expect that sort of growth if it was struggling with conditions.

Hard to say with the differences in climate, but I think you'll be fine with the heat. You may need to water more than we do, but then again, I expected to have to keep this thing wet and it doesn't need it.

Good luck, I think you'll be ok.

Thanks for the replies. I feel a lot more confident about them now. I'm watering them once or twice a day just in case. At least until they get established. From what I've read about them growing in bogs I don't think I have to worry about over watering them.

This post was edited by Jim-Ogden-Utah on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 18:18

Near me, they're found in glacial fens that flood in the spring and some grow in year-round streams. There's a Tamarack road near me, but I've driven a lot of it and never found any, so I'm guessing they were much more prevalent before drainage tile.