Beng - would you part with some berries/seeds from your red osier dogwood this fall?

I'd like to grow some.

I'll get a pic tomorrow - but interesting development. Thise Acer nigrums above - I previously said they seem to never flush past those few inches the first season, well, both set terminal buds, but on one of them, instead of the bud staying dormant, it's flushing! The other one has a terminal bud setting that has yet to grow at all, but we'll see what this other one does.

hair, certainly, but I don't know how perishable those seeds are. I'd have to watch carefully as they are picked off by birds pronto as they ripen.

A better idea is to cut off stems in mid-spring and mail 'em to you -- just stick 'em deep in the ground where you want them & keep watered until they get established (a yr or two). This is how the one I show was planted. Not all stems will sprout, but there are oodles of stems available.

One thing I like is red-osier doesn't attract the dogwood sawfly (at least in my yard) that chew up my pagoda dogwood leaves in later summer.

Edit: hair, in your climate, prb'ly best to put them in at least some shade.....

If red-osier behaves for you guys anything like it does here, one plant will quickly turn into three (or more) via stolons, the arching stems which bend to the ground and root. I have "one" such plant in the back yard and it could (and should) easily be made into three full-size shrubs. Getting huge-too huge for its location. Only limiting factor I'm aware of for this dogwood is adequate soil moisture, which should not be construed to mean it must be in a puddle (but it will grow there) but just average moist conditions'll do it fine.

Hair, would you mind telling me where you got the Acer micranthum seed? Also, that Metasequoia looks awesome.

Kyle

Kyle - got the micranthum from our friend Dax. You'll have to ask him if he can get more!

Thanks - I'm happy w/the Metasequoia - you should see the others I gave away (lack of room)!

My dad has a couple in Canton, OH that are about 6' now in poor soil and droughty weather this summer so far. They're a year older than this one.

I've read a lot of your posts about growing Meta's from seed. I hope to give it a go for myself this coming winter/spring.

Get the "80% cut" seed from F.W Schumacher's. Best germination percentage you'll find for Meta.

Metas are one of my favorites from seed so far - fast and relatively trouble-free, except at the new seedling stage when one sunny day can shrivel them up (not an issue once they get a couple inches high and some root mass to them).

When would you recommend sowing the seeds? Also, did you put them through any stratification?

I didn't scarify or stratify them, I didn't even presoak them, because they're so small it's difficult.
My method is to surface sow them, onto a couple inches of moist Peat Moss, in a small plastic to-go container with a lid. Put them on the heat mat, with the lid, and monitor them every few days, giving them a little spray every once in a while to keep the surface moist. Using this method I get about 50 to 80% germination in anywhere from 5 to 15 days. Once the root has popped out enough that you can see it, I transfer them into individual cells.
My climate is pretty similar to yours, and I usually start them in early April outdoors, but being prepared to protect them by bringing inside if a freeze hits. If you have a greenhouse it's even better, and you could start them earlier.
They do like full sun once they get going, but until the seedlings are a few inches high, they can dry out very quickly on a sunny day. They have very little root system until that point. I usually start them off getting just about three hours of morning sun, or all day sun if they're under a shade cloth or similar structure, and then once they're a few inches high, I give them full day sun.

Maples just don't like me this year. All of them seem especially prone to at least partial leaf necrosis at the edges.

An Acer burgerianum and triflorum. The new growth on both is somewhat better, but the leaves still at least partially dry out at the edges.

I've given them more shade. I wonder if they just don't like the super well drained medium they're in, which dries out almost too quickly, and doesn't stable moisture levels, instead going way up then way down? Although last year none of them did this.

Magnolia grandiflora.

Quercus myrsinifolia. Also a little necrosis, but looks good overall.

Cornus kousa and Nyssa sylvatica. Quercus coccinea behind the Nyssa.

The white stuff is not powdery mildew, I had to break down and spray some Sevin on them because of the damn beetles and aphids.

Hair, have you ever grown P. amabilis from seed?

Oaks (and a blackgum in the back) in their new pots.

Acer nigrum. I can't see that it looks any different than a saccharum, however.

I must say, I'm impressed so far with the Cornus kousa. They've grown to maybe 9", which isn't all that much, by the way the girl was interesting. Both of the seedlings I have are already sending outside branches, and the way the leaves and stems expand is kind of unique.

I have heard they take forever to bloom from seed...

Kyle, I haven't tried that one.

These maples are frustrating me this year. Even the nigrum has a little necrosis.

Maybe leaf scorch?

The ones I have from last year aren't really doing this, it's just this year's seedlings.

One of my Q. michauxii seedlings, I'm suspecting may be a hybrid. It's on it's third flush of growth, and the leaves on this flush have deeper lobes by far than is typical. The top leaves on the latest growth flush look like pics I've seen online of Quercus x. beadlei (alba x michauxii) and Q. x jackiana (bicolor x alba). Could even pass for straight bicolor, but definitely does not look right for michauxii.

I'd imagine I need to wait until the tree is a few years old to know for sure.

Hair, did you warm stratify the triflorum seeds?

Acer nigrum, which decided to flush more growth. So far I can't tell it apart from Acer saccharum.

Possible hybrid (?) oak? Grew from the Q. michauxii acorns I collected. Looks like it has some alba in it to me.

Cornus kousa. I put row cover on the south side to diffuse the direct sun during the hottest part of the day. They seem better for it.

Acer triflorum and buergerianum.

The trident looks good, but that triflorum just doesn't look happy to be (barely) alive.

The Trident has multiple leaders do to the top shriveling as I mentioned about six weeks ago. I'll have to prune it, probably next year, since I want a single-trunk tree, for now I'm just letting it make as much leaves and growth as it can.

Quercus myrsinifolia.

Magnolia grandiflora. Not the fastest things.

hairmetal have any of your magnolias had reddish new growth?

I have a wild seedling in my garden exhibiting this trait. There are natural Magnolia virginiana around here; but I've never seen them have reddish new growth.

David, none of mine have reddish growth, no.

So, baldcypress really grows a lot more wild and floppy than Metasequoia! These things bob and weave. The leader ends up growing more or less straight, but bobs and weaves to get there. Nothing like the arrow-straight stem of metasequoia.

Acer nigrum

Quercus alba

Acer buergerianum.

I only ended up keeping two, one is far more vigorous than the other, but both have lost their leaders multiple times, due to some other environmental or insect issue causing the tips to occasionally shrivel up for no apparent reason.

Second-season Quercus x schuettei.

As of yesterday, 74" tall to the tip. Almost 1" caliper trunk.

Still flushing and it's almost September!

Once it sets a terminal bud and seems to have stopped growing for the season, it's going in the ground.

Metasequoia, two seasons old. 69" tall, 1.25" caliper.

My Schuette's oak is doing this at the tips of the newest growth:

Will this callous over and grow properly? What causes it?

Hair, that looks like cicada damage. The tip might survive.

My Magnolia grandiflora seedlings. These were started back in Nov-Dec of 2015 from 'Teddy Bear'. I don't really see any dwarfing going on. Still, I hate to throw them out! Maybe I'll put them in my coldframe for another winter.

Two Magnolia grandiflora and a Quercus myrsinifolia. Just repotted.

Cornus Kousa. Five months from germination!

quite a tree factory you've got going there, hairmetal.

Aver nigrum (can't tell it apart from saccharum).

Aver buergerianum and palmatum. The palmatum wants to grow in a zigzag.

The trident got a bit wilted today, despite being moist. Hopefully it's ok.

Nyssa sylvatica. Falls over every time it rains, so it's loosely staked.

About 29" tall with some side branching. Finally appears to have terminated growth.

Magnolia grandiflora.

General updates:

Oaks:

Most of my oaks are finally done growing. I have one michauxii still hardening off some growth, one bicolor, and my x schuettei (which is 2 yrs old). Thankfully our hard freezes don't usually kick in until mid-Nov at least, so they should be just fine.

Maples:

All still have some soft new growth except the triflorum, which set a terminal bud in August. The buergerianums appear to be slowing/terminating growth as does the nigrum (which is now 25" tall!). I have a palmatum still growing actively, and a japonicum still chugging along.

Magnolia grandiflora:

Two specimens, seem to have stopped growing. One has a leaf still expanding, but doesn't have another unfolding in the terminal bud.

Taxodium:

all three seem to be setting buds now.

Metasequoia:

single second-year specimen, seems to have reached that stage where growth is still soft, but is now setting up to stop growing for the season (from past experience, they take on a slightly different appearance at this point).

Cercis:

Done growing for the season.

Nyssa:

Finally set terminal buds, still hardening the growth. Odd since more mature specimens are actually starting to show hints of color - these seedlings are still green. About 30" tall.

Cornus kousa:

Done. Some hints of red in the foliage the last few days, but mostly green.

Am concerned that my black maple's growth is still SO soft and green.

Got the metasequoia in the ground!