yeah, like a b combined with the last work of your post title. Happens every year shortly after new years.

Got anywhere between 75 and 90 days before I can get out there again.

I was obsessed with mags as well but at this new house I've only planted one (Jane) for some reason. I might just put the classic 'Royal Star' in because it stays dense, flowers heavily and later than most.

I have a 'Royal Star' and it had some very nice flowers but we had a late freeze that zapped about half of them last spring. It did very well for most of the summer but had crispy leaves by the beginning of October.

I have so many white flowering trees/shrubs I have been informed all new additions should preferably come in other colors by the SO hahaha

John

Well, I did place orders today for 1,506 plants! 1500 hybrid larch, which are actually not available until spring of 2014, but I wanted to lock them up with the grower, and 6 Chamaecyparis lawsonianna 'Oregon Blue'. The latter are the "just for fun" plants and will be planted both at my Z4 location up north and at a good strong Z5 location in SE WI where my son lives. We shall see.

I actually need to order 4,500 additional spruce and pine seedlings yet in the next few weeks, but am waiting on somebody to get back to me about this. These will make a big dent in my reforestation efforts at my land. The hybrid larch of the following year should just about fill all available acreage.

+oM

Nice going Tom! Good thing you got them when you did. You never know when a gower will have 1506 of the exact plants you want in stock :D

(I know it was a special order haha)

And 4500 more? What kind of workforce are you employing to do all the dirty work ie planting?

Nothing new but I want a Brackens brown Beauty. I need to remove a TOO big Forsythia first. I just hope the BBB isn't too slow growing, for privacy's sake.

Forgot to add, I won't be getting out and planting for a couple months at the least.

No Magnolia obsession here. Of the grandifloras, only a half dozen cultivars.

Here is a link that might be useful:

ONLY 6 cultivars of 1 species, eh? Yeah, you know the first step to beating an addiction... ;)

Ahh poaky and whaas... does it make you feel any better that I will be planting a couple japanese maples tomorrow along with some taxodium? mwuhahaha

Thank you, njoasis for finally posting a pic! That is what I want to see!!! What cultivar is that? It has very nice flowers and I really like the leaves.

Below is a pic of one of the maples I'll be planting tomorrow. Very interested to check out the root system after growing in that root pruning pot for 1 season. It actually grew 2' of top growth in that pot with very little fert last year. Much more than I anticipated.

Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream'

This post was edited by j0nd03 on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 22:44

I can't even see half of my plants. Soil is likely froze solid. Had -3 for a low early this week.

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I grew M tripitala from seed last year, I got about 50% germination. I left them outside this winter, so I dont think they made it. I dont have enough snow up here to insulate :(

This year I did order some M kobus var. borealis seeds. Im further north then you (im in NW Ontario), so its hard to get any mags to grow. Its all an experiment.

I have the itch though..... I already have some things started...

wisconsitom, I have the larch hybrid & a standard Japanese larch. Both grew fast to begin with, but for some reason the hybrid has grown poorly the last couple yrs (bad enough that I might cut it down), while the J. larch continues growing vigorously.

I just hope your 1500 don't do like mine...

The sucky thing about planting in the fall is that you then don't get to see them doing anything for a few months. IN this part of the world fall planting is much superior to any other time of the year, so that is when I like to get stuff in. We got several plants last fall, but some of them will not see the ground, at least not for the foreseeable future. Still, here are a couple.

One of the things I got for me as a couple of dwarf Ginkgo that I intent to keep potted for a while. These pics are just after arrival.

Ginkgo biloba 'Majestic Butterflies"' just repotted into root pruning pot.

Ginkgo biloba 'Beijing Gold' Just out of the shipping box with two leaves left.

Cotinus obovatus 'Tulsa Lady' American Smoketree Just Arrived. This one did get planted next to our seed grown American Smoke Tree.

Lastly, not trees but a couple of hydrangea for my female enabling partner. Had to get her something, so that I wouldn't get that disapproving look for getting the other stuff ;-)

Little Honey Oak Leaf Hydrangea on the right (great fall color BTW), and the other one escapes me at the moment of this writing. EDIT: Hydrangea macrophylla 'New Wave'

Arktrees

This post was edited by arktrees on Sat, Jan 5, 13 at 18:26

The funny thing is that the one you don't recall the name off hand is the coolest one...likely Lamplighter.

Great pics Jon and ark!

whaas,
Hydrangea macrophylla 'New Wave'. She wanted this one not so much for the flowers, as the foliage. Also supposed to be very sun tolerant.

As for Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey', here is the description.

"In spring, the foliage emerges electric gold and slowly ages to chartreuse just as numerous, white, pyramidal flower clusters appear. In fall the leaves once again transition in color, this time to superb shades of scarlet and burgundy."

I can confirm the nice fall color, and this new plant took many very cold nights before finally losing it's leaves. That's important if you are prone to late freezes like I am at my location.

John, how bad do I have it..... I dreamed our Fall Fiesta was leafing out last night...... TOP THAT!!! ;-)

Arktrees

Ha j0nd, the intent is to rent the county's "tree planter" for the big push. County where my land is is mostly forested and was in fact the place in the world where tree planting machines were first developed and used. It's really not much different than a cabbage planter-a guy rides on it, sticks the seedlings into the furrow it creates while additional machine parts then come along and close this furrow. It is suggested that a three-person crew be employed, one to drive tractor, one to stick seedlings in the ground, and a third to act as tender and checker of seedlings behind the operation. Apparently, some won't be closed properly or straight enough. So I'm told-I've yet to even see the thing. I also made a deal with my farmer guy who rented my land in previous years to borrow one of his tractors to pull the planter. So......I've got two sons.....I think I've got this covered.

Beng, I've already planted numerous hybrid larch on this property. Despite the excellent growth of such trees as Norway spruce and red pine, the larch are far and away the strongest performers. Some, having been in the ground for four growing seasons now, are pushing twelve feet in height, and this from a little tiny stick of a seedling.

Now truth be told, I don't think my 2014 order will be those same exact genetics. It has gotten hard for the grower to procure hybrid larch seed and that original source has been depleted. So there's that, but I think we'll be okay.

+oM

Finally, some pictures!

Ark, when I dream of trees, it is ALWAYS about drought killing them! Especially in 2011, I had nightmares about all my trees dying nearly every night. It was aweful. I have yet to experience a "normal" or close to normal summer since I began gardening in 2010 (which unfortunately means it has been bad for both of us and a few other local contributors).

Whaas, your pic made me appreciate all the color you can see in the winter because you can grow all those nice little conifers. Then it hit me; you can't see the small dwarf ones when you have that kind of snowcover! I suppose last year you did get to enjoy them because of the lack of snow, though.

That reminds me, remember the trees I was going to plant today? Well we had a beg snow around new years, and there was still a little snow in the pots... aaaaand the soil was frozen in the pots so I couldn't do anything. I ended up pruning my blackgum bush into more of a tree and took out 1 competing leader and a bunch of smaller branches. I was probably pushing 40% canopy removal and had to stop myself. I think I need to leave some canopy to help the tree close the wounds I made. Probably gonna take 2 more years before I'm done with it. I still haven't seen much in the way of fall color but this fall it did have a little on the interior branches. I also collected a bunch of seed from a local source to grow next year. The mother plant has amazing purple fall foliage that transitions to burgundy before falling.

Tom, when I placed my order (25 improved cherrybark and 25 blackgum) from the Arkansas Forestry dept last spring, they asked me if I was going to use that contraption you are talking about. Sounded pretty cool! I kept about 8 of the 50 I ordered and gave the remaining to a local nursery free of charge. I ended up planting 4 of the strongest growers of the ones I kept.

Canadianplant, that is a magnolia I might try someday when I clear a couple of acres in the back. I have quite a few cedars that need to be removed and will make room for quite a few new trees.

Sooo... I saw quite a few of these plants at the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center growing around the large pond they made. Any ideas as to what it is?

Here is a link that might be useful: JH Nature Center

Here is another pic

Look like Hibiscus to me. Most are not cold hardy to this climate, but there are some that are. They die back to the ground and come up the following spring from the roots, and begin flowering by mid-summer. We had a couple, but they developed root problems, and they have not been replaced. They need LOTS of sun, and LOTS of water. May be why it's next to the pond.

Arktrees

I agree, Ark and that was my initial ID. Are there any native hibiscus it could be?

That one looks like one of the hardy hybrids to me, however, there are species native to the state. Honestly, I had no ideal how many were in the US until I went looking. Hibiscus moscheutos is the closest I could find in an initial search that is native to the state. There is also Hibiscus lasiocarpos and Hibiscus coccineus. Check out a link below for a list with links. Some are introduced invasives.

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: Hibiscus

I have some magnolia seeds in the fridge and have never tried them before. Does anybody wish to share tips? As far as having the itch goes, oh, my! Harrow Fair peach seedlings are coming up, Bosc o.p. seedlings just started, Reliance o.p. seedlings started today, umm.....just checked the chestnuts and none with roots yet, so will hold off on them another month. Kind of wondering if my daylily seeds are ready yet, grin.

Jehn,
Did a bit more looking. Still think it is cultivated, BUT Hibiscus moschutos v. lasiocarpus would be pretty close, and it is native. Mary Ann at Pine Ridge Gardens has both Hibiscus moschutos v. lasiocarpus and Hibiscus coccineus listed and as native to Arkansas. Showed them to my S.O., and she seemed to like them, so we may end up find a spot for one or two of them.

Arktrees

Natives - Especially the unusual, rare, hard-to-find natives.

I planted 3 Umbrella magnolias last year - 2 look good, the other got bit off by a rabbit before I could get a cage around it...

Is is likely to recover, or not? It got nibbled at ground level; there's still about 2 inches of stem left (it was a young seedling)

Wow, was I off. Thinking back I'm not even sure why I called it out as Lamplighter.

Jon, only the tall plants are peaking up at this point. They looked pretty cool when we got a our first snow fall of a few inches. Likely better off under the snow though now!

Ark, my Little Honey burned terribly in mostly sun. I had to a put a shade up for it. Color turn chartreuse in the shade. Hopefully its a bit more established and we won't get brutalized by a hot dry summer again. Nice plant for sure otherwise. Really enjoyed the strong gold color during May and June.

My favorite spring picture from when I lived in Switzerland.

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whaas,
I had to redirect the S.O. on where to plant the "Little Honey". Where she was going to put it would likely have fried it. It ended up where it will be sheltered by our redbud tree during the intense part of the day. It will get a couple hours of morning sun and perhaps 1-2 hours of very late afternoon sun in mid-summer, and will have part of fall, and spring to establish before that hot hits. Thanks for the feedback on your experience with it. Says we certainly did the right thing with it. Great pic from Switzerland.

Arktrees

I saw Rapeseed growing in many fields when I went to the UK. Wonder why you don't see it in the US. Maybe the climate is wronge here.

I think they grow it up in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba somewhat - Somebody could confirm that.

Whoa, nice pic, whaas

Thanks for the help Ark. There are about 3-4 that are listed as native on the website you linked that have similar flowers. It would take someone much more skilled than I to make the final ID, though.

Jimbob, I really don't know. I planted about a dozen q. alba acorns last year and the drought killed every one of them. I am hoping they resprout this year but I'm not expecting them to.

Jocelyn, maybe I should start a few things inside to brighten up my mood. I was at the local Wal-mart (don't laugh!) today and they were putting their gardening/seed modulars together today! I might have to get a couple projects going in the coming weeks...

John

Sorry, I should've clarified - I was referring to rapeseed! ;)

lol I was referring to your chewed up magnolia

Nothing too exciting, but why not!?!

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Does the crabapple(?) in the first pic have a name? How about 2, 3, 4, and 5? ;)

Thanks for posting (and sharing your photobucket album)!

John

Lol...you bet!

Coralburst
Species redbud
Abies pinsapo 'Horstmann' one of the few Abies that could grow in your area if you have well drained soil.
Rhododendron x 'Purple Gem'
Abies lasiocarpa 'Martha's vineyard'

with a week of single digits.. PLUS wind..

no..no itch here ... [well actually the dry heat from the forced air furnace is drying the skin nicely ... and causing itching]

in my world.. i am not ready.. nor rested enough from last year ...

talk to me in early march ... when the snow starts melting.. and the ground starts thawing ...

ken

i never did link that dancing pink suit ...

We're supposed to get a warm-up by the weekend, I'm hoping to do something outside then. I'm not happy with a couple tree locations, they are small yet so I am gonna move them.It surely won't be warm long enough to get onto any big projects though.

So I was out early this morning taking the garbage to the curb, and who would have guessed the little creature waiting to greet me? After admiring his feisty spirit for a moment, I then noticed this was no "he" this was a "she" AND she had babies!!! I thought this is very strange timing in the dead of winter. We have had some very cold weather before the last couple days of steady rain and temps in the upper 30's to low 50's. And the babies were pretty far along, too. Weird... I guess the soil temp in her burrow is still warm enough for this kind of thing.

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I moved her to the grass so my wife wouldn't back over her on her way to run some errands this morning. She (the crawdad) is lucky I wasn't going fishing today ;)

This post was edited by j0nd03 on Thu, Jan 10, 13 at 9:32

j0nd03, that crayfish w/youngin's is surprising in mid-winter -- never seen it. I see them in my border stream any season, but I wouldn't think they'd dare come out of the water now -- they could become quick-frozen crawdads. Maybe they can anticipate a warm spell.

I'm sometimes surprised how early spring-peepers (frogs) get going w/their chorus -- usually by early March w/snow often still on the ground.

Well, after living with in laws for 6 months while the house gets built, we finally moved into the new house 2 weeks ago, I promptly planted 4 taxodium hybrids as soon I get a chance. I have a nice grove of escarpment live oak in the corner of backyard. Never had that much shade so I'm a little excited about what to plant there. Perhaps a couple of JMs with nice red fall color from my brother that he grew from seeds. That's in Houston where he lives so I'm curious to see how they do in bit colder weather over here. There are deer around here but they don't seem to wander close to houses judging on plants on older houses. I guess they are too scared of us unlike at in laws where they come like dogs wanting treats. I've had a couple of big nice looking bucks come right up to me and start eating deer corns out of the bucket! I'm going to miss that. Just so cool...

Well, I rescratched my itch today-ordering 4500 seedlings for spring. Equal numbers of white pine, red pine, and Norway spruce.

After these go in, it will only remain to plant the 1500 hybrid larch for the following year. Beyond that, it will just be fun stuff, like a few Abies, a few Thuja moved up from the woods into the open field, that sort of thing.

6 Chamaecyparis "Oregon Blue" are ordered from FF as well, for this spring. Those are definitely in the "fun" category as I'm not at all sure they'll even survive this cold, Z4 site.

At some later date, I do also wish to get a few clones of bigtooth aspen started somewhere up there. I really like their looks. But that too is for later.

+oM

Well, all the little peaches are doing well, all 1 inch tall. grin. Debating whether to bring my U americana flats in from the porch yet. I suspect they have had close to enough chill time, but might wait another 2 weeks, or perhaps just bring in one and see if they come up. The itch may dictate which I do. It has been quite mild the last few days, we often get a January thaw. I got another bucket of compost in, just in case I run out at potting time. It's supposed to freeze up and stay cold for the next week.

Not so much about the "itch" other than we are in the climatological low point of winter. As such, I did some mild pruning on a few of our maples a couple weeks ago. Even in winter during periods of cold our freemanii maples still "bleed" sap on warmer days. However, something new happened with the colder weather of the last few days.

Sap-cicles anyone? ;-)

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Arktrees, how did the sap-cicles taste? ;-)

Yeah, we get those a lot up thisaway. And yes, they are tasty, in a subtle sort of way.

+oM

I know that insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, or something like that, but I have 2 Q. Virginiana, that may be related to Q. Fusiformis but will grow faster, as the Q. Virginiana does, the 2 are showing no stress as of yet. All their leaves are ok. We are headed for a week of 20's at night, (30's and 40's in the daytime), I have 4 or 5 Q. Fusiformis, so if the others don't make it it's okay, but I am hopeful with these others still looking good now after a normal winter with 17 F low a couple weeks ago and 20's a few days in a row. Knock on wood big time.