I've seen them killed in a severe winter in zone 7. Definitely not zone 5 hardy - sooner or later (and probably sooner) you'll get a bad winter that will kill them. Two years is no test!

Resin

Thanks for the doom wakeup call, Resin! LOL! Between this and my Pinus wallichiani 'zebrina', I'm destined for a high-death winter at some point, eh?

Until then, I'll spray my anti-dessicant and do the happy conifer dance! ;D

Hey Jenny- As far as hardiness goes, you are good to go in Philly... There are quite a few mature specimens 50yrs+ in New York and Philly that have withstood the very rare dips in temps below 0F. You really must get them in the ground though... I highly doubt they will survive even in your area if they are kept in a pot overwinter... Roots freeze and are killed at much higher temps. But once in the ground I don't think you'd have to afford them any protection at all where you live... I'm jealous... lol...

doniki - I've actually seen several at Lowe's stores this year...of all places. You might want to take a look-see and see if you can find one. Live in the edge! lol I got mine at WalMart on deep discount at $30/ea. I stalked them every day for months - I need to get a life!

ademink- Hey, I know I saw a few at Lowe's around here too... I do have a Blue Atlas (not weeping), It's made it through -8f, and has grown to about 12ft+ and looks really good. I'm "in town" and it's very close to the neighbor's house and benefits from wind protection and little winter sun... I'm not holding my breath though. I know it's just a matter of time until it's toast... I'm enjoying it very much, while it lasts though...

Thank you ADEMINK for the tips on taking care of my trees. Still not sure where to plant them. I'm going to put them in the ground (pot and all) for this winter. I'm going to buy that Safer stuff and baby my trees. Here's a picture of the trees now. I'm going to place them in front of that white building (our run down cottage, which a ground hog lives in at this time -ha!) for now along with those other shrubs in the picture. I also have seedlings of sunflowers that I'd like to put along that hideous wall too. I just hope the deer or bunnies don't eat them. I already lost 11 of the 12 hybrid lilies I ordered from QVC , which were doing great. I only have one left. I hope to see it bloom soon. Thank you again for everyones input.

No problem on my two cents! I'm thinking you might want to heed the advice of getting them out of the pots, though. Wow, gorgeous specimens!

doniki, I'm w/ you on enjoying them while they last. I'll cry when they die but I'm sure I'll find something else exciting to put there (probably two more of the same LOL)!

Yea, Jenny you should if possible try to get them out of the pots and in the ground... Even in the ground the soil in the pots will freeze much faster and though hardiness *probably* isn't an issue in your case, it would benefit the plant more to get it in the ground and have some time to root before winter... Ademink- I also have a cedrus stenocoma and a cedrus deodara "Eisregen" that are considerably hardier than Blue Atlas... They've been through -20F in MI without an trouble.... "Karl Fuchs" is also hardy and very blue, much like the Blue Atlas...

Don't remove the burlap. That is in place to keep the rootball intact when planting the tree. If you remove it the rootball can fall apart, thats not good. The burlap is a natural substance, it'll decompose in the ground, so leave it on when you plant.

Lots of new gardeners make this mistake.

Question: Several people mentioned the importance of zone - whether a weeping blue atlas cedar will be hardy in a particular zone. How do you factor in other conditions?

I live in southeastern VA on the Chesapeake Bay. The water that surrounds us moderate temps on both ends. In spring, temps warm up slowly. In winter, temps get cold later. Usual 1st frost is in late Nov - early Dec. This year, our first hard frost was in late Dec.

The big issue here (and it's a BIG issue) is wind. It's not usual to have winds of 30-35+ mph to blow for days, causing plants to dry up and die. In winter and early spring, NNW winds are the main problem (we are fairly well protected from NNE winds). Although this situation is comfortable for people, several days of warm/hot wind aren't good for trees that are under stress and must deal with these conditions - or die.

Given these conditions, would you grow a weeping blue atlas cedar here? How would they handel an occasional salt water bath from a tropical storm or hurricane?

Thanks,
Pam

"Don't remove the burlap .... Lots of new gardeners make this mistake"

But lots of highly experienced professionals also remove it . . . they can't all be wrong!

"How would they handle an occasional salt water bath from a tropical storm or hurricane?"

Not well.

Resin

I always remove the burlap. I want to see what is going on underneath! No problems from it yet. :)

Beautiful pond and beautiful trees. I'm 20 mins in-land so salt isn't a problem but summers are very hot here. Would weeping blue atlas cedars have a chance in zone 9?

Terry

Hi Terry,

Well worth a try, certainly. Watch out for humidity-related fungal diseases, though.

Resin

Hello gardeners

I need help. I have a beautiful weeping blue atlas that has been in my garden for almost 3 years doing very well, but this summer it start loosing needles in one branch, then another and now its getting to a 3rd one. I starched the 1st sick branch and because I did not see any green behind assumed it was dead and I cut it off, hoping to stop whatever is happening to spread. I am unsure if this was the right thing to do. Just recently I started spraying it with a regular flower anti-fungal. I was wondering if anyone knows what would be the most appropriate anti-fungal I could use? Maybe one with a large spectrum to make sure I catch the fungus it may be there. I am so worry my favorite tree may died. Would very much appreciate your help. I am adding some photos too. Thank you, Alexandra

Sorry I cannot figure out how to add the photos in here...

I've had a weeping blue altus cedar for 7 years, this past January and Feburary we had record lows and lots of snow, well about 3 weeks ago the little needles started to turn a bit yellow on the ends and within the next week the needles started falling off, and now it has no needles left and the limbs are brittle, I think it is dead, I am so sad about it, it was beautiful and I loved it, I'm not sure but I think the winter was just way to much for it, we had lows of -30 f so I am guessing that's what killed it. Good luck everyone, I am thinking about getting another one because we set a record for lows I don't think or I hope it won't happen again for a long long time, wish me luck!!