my experience with the law's ... was the root rots and disease ... which never manifested itself .. when the ground was frozen ... [being clearer ... it dont think it was a winter issue with the suspended animation of a northern winter]

of the dozen rooted cuttings i once had.. all i have left .. w/o opening my dB and name checking .... is the green globe one.. and the one i spell alumni ,....

spring and early summer should tell .... when there is warm air.. and cold dank soil ....

good luck .. i know you are winging it as a zone pushing experiment ... thats what i did when i bought the dozen odd 4 dollar special from stanley ....

ken

Right you are, Ken. I'm a sucker for arb or Cham-like foliage, and when I became aware of glaucus-foliaged plants of this sort, the die was cast, so to speak! That soil is rocky/sandy/stoney, so who knows? Drainage is actually quite good, except for where it isn't ;^), which is not where these plants are!

+oM

When I have planted borderline conifers that didn't survive the winter, they never appeared dead until March or April.

Frozen camellias do the same thing, even starting to bloom the following spring - only to have everything then discolor and drop off at that point, long after they would have been zapped by winter cold.

My experience with native Thuja is that when they are being troubled by winter conditions, it happens immediately, in the form of burnt-looking foliage. This isn't a Thuja, but I believe there is some degree of similarity. But who knows? It's but a tiny part of my overall thing at this tree farm-not anything to get greatly worked up over. If it doesn't work, I'll be out exactly that amount of $$ I spent on these four plants. If they do go on to survive, for whatever period, it's all gravy.

I did plant in excess of 6000 trees up there last spring. A grand total of 4 of these were the "Oregon Blues".

+oM

This winter has been a you know what thus far with December showcasing more 0 or below 0 nights than the previous three winters COMBINED.

Its already shaping up to be the worst winter since I've been gardening at my own homes, granted thats only been 10 years. I'm already counting all my borderline plants dead. Having a few -20 nights is nothing compared to continous fridgid temps as forecasted below.

-13 for high on Monday...are you kidding me?

Hope all you're youngins pull through, good news is that we have some snow cover.

{{gwi:866577}}

Yeah, whaas.......was not hoping for this type of weather! Bright side.......? Maybe it'll keep the hemlock WA or some other exotic insect out of here.

+oM

I was thinking the same thing. After the 2012 drought and now this cold I'll be lucky to find a Japanese beetle this upcoming year!

EAB may be affected as well. I've read reports that mortality rates increase at multiple days of -20 degrees but couldn't find any conclusive information.

Milwaukee area meteorologist said its one of the worst cold snaps in 16-18 years. Say good bye to some exotics!

Every time I hear a forecast, the outlook gets colder. Even tonight went from expecting -3F to now expecting -13F in the city.
Good thing we just got 8 inches of fluffy snow to blanket them. This will be a real test of my Taxus baccata 'Standishii' sticking above the snow. If the top dies, well, Edwin always says its good to top them every few years.

tj

I was really hoping to get some of that snow. We got a trace. All plants exposed here, except for areas of drift or groundcovers.

Can't wait for 84 straight hours of sub zero temps. Being cooped up with sick kids is certainly the worst of it, lol

Yeah, remember '94 or whenever it was.....there was actually a day here in Appleton that the high temp was something like 20 below zero! That's Farenheit for you limeys and Europeans. Was talking to a nice young couple from Germany a couple weeks ago when I was down in SW Florida. When asked if we here in WI get "below zero", I knew he meant below the freezing point of water, lol! Straightened out that point of understanding.

This indeed could be the year of weeding out some questionable plants, my present observations of these C. lawsoniana not withstanding. Up in that same location I have a few Green Giants which, to date, have been utterly fit for life there. Also, a couple dawn redwoods. I'd not be surprised to see any of these plants succumb. Oh well, was never a high-percentage gamble. Then again, who knows?

+oM

Exactly, won't know until you try it. There have been many cases where a plant not thought to be zone 5 hardy, for example, actually was. Honestly it will be worth it. Just wish they all had a bit more age to them.

Stay warm!

One thing's for dern sure......I should have stayed down in fort Myers an extra uh, month or so! Weather was real nice down there.

Speaking of which-and this is indeed going OT-should any one of you find yourself in SW Florida, do not miss out on a boardwalk tour of the Corkscrew Swamp. Great conifer action, in terms of virgin bald cypress, and that among the many other natural wonders. They haven't quite bulldozed the whole place down there yet.

+oM