Kwanzan Cherry Trees, Crape Myrtles, Dogwood, or Yoshino? ===>> the first and the last are two types of the same.. if not the same ... flowering cherry in my z5 MI ... no such thing as a CM ... dogwoods are variable depending on native or foo foo .. and wind.. especially in winter ... no cacti grow in my z5 .. except maybe the prickly pear ... if that is a true cacti the cherry type trees of washington DC ... sometimes they bloom.. sometimes they dont.. depending on my z5 frost freeze after bud set ... micro climate rules on those ... as well as them dying outright in a bad z5 winter .... so it all matters which z5 ... many peeps in no drain clay .. plant only half to the root mass in the clay.. and berm above and around .. allowing the tree to live long enough with drainage .. to put its roots where it can cope with the native soil ... the deal with z5.. is that MI z5.. is much different than say kansas city z5 ... zone is simply put ... min winter temps ... one day .... one minute in time in the dead of winter ... to exaggerate for impact ... summer in z5 can be the opposite issue.. as to what can cope year round.. though perhaps this issue is not as great when outside the world of conifers ... further south z5 has severe summer humidity problems ... give us a major city ... NEVER amend a planting hole ... unless you really know what you are doing ... the problem with really bad clay.. is that you basically dig a cauldron ... which water will never drain out of .... and there arent many trees that like to live in a tub of water.. roots need air.. as much as they need moisture ... so the half in.. half out idea.. allows the tree to put its roots where it can cope... and if you accept the cauldron idea.. you should understand.. that adding anything into the cauldron.. is NOT going to make water drain any faster.. and many things thrown in holes.. actually RETAIN more water.. like anything peat based ... to suggest your general area is completely devoid of trees ... and no tree can ever live in your clay ... is probably not reality ... trees can definitely grow and cope with any clay ... and your 40 year old concolor is a prime example.. the real issue is the fact that you are moving and planting a tree.. and can it 'cope'.. due to the transplant.. until it can take care of itself.. which is a short way of saying.. its the human touch that will kill them ... i still maintain.. there are very few trees that can not deal with it ... otherwise zone appropriate ... if they are properly planted .. and cared for ... anyway.. if you cant tell.. i am stills struggling to stay awake.. to go pick her up form the dance in a 30 minutes ... i figured what you meant on the fruiting .. just trying to clarify your ideas into concepts that can be discussed ... just trying to focus you on the thought process .. without suggesting that everyone elses replys are 'blatent misinformation'... anyway.. did the variegation do anything for mom .. or is that too far outside the box.. lol ... its more of a walk out there and enjoy it often.. rather than gaze at it from the window type thing.. depending on distance from house ... redbud might be a very early pink ... seedlings probably wont be an issue in grass ... and my 25 year old one that came with the house.. didnt go much beyond 25 feet ... i cant recall any special fall color on the heart shaped leaves ... see link .. oh yeah.. add 'in fall' to the search .. and its a lemon yellow ... though there is a red one there called 'Charlotte Eastern Redbud'.. and i know nothing about that one ... 4th pic ken ps: i suspect we are reading much more into your description of your soil.. than you mean to imply ... have you ever done a perk test.. dig a hole .. fill with water.. and find out how fast it drains ... and frankly .. if it drains at all.. you do NOT have 'bad' clay ... i bet december is not the best to to try this.. as in my z5.. the soil has been frozen for 10 days already ... Here is a link that might be useful: blooms before it leafs out.. sometimes in a light spring snow .. in my z5

I have had good results with cuttings from lemon, about 2 months ago i cut back branches on one of my trees, took all the bits and tryed to root them, 90+% of the lemon cuttings are growing, i have also tried mandarin and calamondin since, none rooted I used a small plastic frame they sell as a greenhouse..., shelves with a plastic bag over it in reality, it was in the house in a bay window for the sun to heat the air, a piece of tissue paper to shield the sun from the plants The cuttings were all about a foot tall, i just cut the bottom off each just below a leaf node, left all the leaves on,i dabbed rooting gel on the end and pushed it into a pot of perlite, watered it, then left it in the greenhouse (tent shelf) it was at 25 deg C for about a month , i sprayed the leaves everyday to keep them wet, after a month i looked and they had rooted 2 inch around and new growth was starting Out of 30 about 28 rooted from the lemon, none from the mandarin or calamondin The cuttings i used were fairly new growth, it was green color but hard, not brand new soft growth

I have far less experience than the majority of folks here growing lemons, but I do have a meyer in gritty mix, so I'll add my $0.02. I think the initial decline of the plant was due to under watering and the most recent leaf curling is also a symptom of under watering. I've found it darn near impossible to overwater my Meyer lemon when it's planted in gritty mix. It sits under a 150 watt HPS lamp during the winter and I water it every 4 days until I see water in the saucer. Since it's so heavy and I don't care to move it, I even let the water sit in the tray. The gritty mix is very forgiving for people who have a heavy hand on the watering can.

That bark does look pretty bad. In he hot dessert areas of Southern California, bark on trees is often painted with white indoor latex paint to prevent sunburn and reflect the sun. The limbs have an interesting twist! We moved to property neglected for 5 years such as yours, and the bark on many of our trees looks awful, but the trees are producing (more than we want) after two years of water, pest prevention, and fertilization. Some of our trees are 30 years old, at least that's when the house was built on this site, so I assume that old. One lime does not look like it's going to make it. It has areas of dead limbs that we constantly trim off. We planted a new one far from it for back up. Good luck. I hope others chime in! Suzi