Another winter, another trial by fire, err cold.
Temperatures dropped to negative 35C with strong wind. Windchills were reported to negative 45C. How can anything survive here?
I am glad that in addition to sequoias I now have a full complement of hardy conifers in the park. It's possible that the sequoia seedling will survive THIS winter because they were well protected but another winter like that when they are 6-10 foot tall and I am pretty sure they will die. Short of building a dome, there is no way Giant Sequoias can stand -45C windchill.
All things considered, this recent episode was not bad. Since the death of all tall sequoias last winter, the two 2-3 footers were wrapped pretty well with burlap and even some Reflectix material (bubble wrap with aluminum film). There was also over a foot of snow on the ground, plus the day before temperatures started plunging, I added even more fluffy light snow on top of the trees:
The seedlings were almost completely buried:
Back in the warmth of the house, I now have a few Hazel Smith samples. I was advised by one of my followers from Finland about the existence of Crowfoot Nursery on Oregon. Their product list includes quite a few grafted liners of various SGs variants, including the hardiest of them all - Hazel Smith:
I must say, the service was excellent. All trees came in top shape. Packaging was simply amazing.
All grafted seedling are doing well sitting in a protective cage:
A couple dozen 2018 germinated small seedlings are still doing fine in their starter containers. I moved half a dozen into larger, 1 quart (1L) containers. There is still quite a few regular 12-18" California seedlings but I am not sure what to do with them long term yet. They proved to be completely unacclimated to the life in Iowa.
Perhaps I will try my own grafting with them if Hazel Smiths survive in the next couple of years.
Temperatures dropped to negative 35C with strong wind. Windchills were reported to negative 45C. How can anything survive here?
I am glad that in addition to sequoias I now have a full complement of hardy conifers in the park. It's possible that the sequoia seedling will survive THIS winter because they were well protected but another winter like that when they are 6-10 foot tall and I am pretty sure they will die. Short of building a dome, there is no way Giant Sequoias can stand -45C windchill.
All things considered, this recent episode was not bad. Since the death of all tall sequoias last winter, the two 2-3 footers were wrapped pretty well with burlap and even some Reflectix material (bubble wrap with aluminum film). There was also over a foot of snow on the ground, plus the day before temperatures started plunging, I added even more fluffy light snow on top of the trees:
Back in the warmth of the house, I now have a few Hazel Smith samples. I was advised by one of my followers from Finland about the existence of Crowfoot Nursery on Oregon. Their product list includes quite a few grafted liners of various SGs variants, including the hardiest of them all - Hazel Smith:
I must say, the service was excellent. All trees came in top shape. Packaging was simply amazing.
All grafted seedling are doing well sitting in a protective cage:
A couple dozen 2018 germinated small seedlings are still doing fine in their starter containers. I moved half a dozen into larger, 1 quart (1L) containers. There is still quite a few regular 12-18" California seedlings but I am not sure what to do with them long term yet. They proved to be completely unacclimated to the life in Iowa.
Perhaps I will try my own grafting with them if Hazel Smiths survive in the next couple of years.
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| Watering the sequoias |
