Say what? Season opening in June? Yes, this update has little to do with typical measuring of the growth and beautiful pictures of giant sequoias. Instead, it’s the next chapter in the mighty war of sequoias in Zone 5.
There were total of about 20 GS outside for the past winter. Two normal trees, about 2-3ft tall, two bush-like survivors from previous winters and the rest all very small seedlings up to 8-9 inches tall. All seedlings and the two “bushes” were kept under styrofoam thermal cones. The two real trees had a burlap layer outside of the wire fence and another layer of highly reflective plastic. There was a decent amount snow this past winter with about 2/3rd of the tree height covered by it by the middle of the winter.
This winter was exceptionally cold and long. Temperatures dipped to -30F (-34C). With the windchill temperatures were reported to be below -50F (-45C). Average minimal temperature for January 2019 was an incredible -20F (-29C). This means not only that it got extremely cold several times, it stayed cold all January.
It got a little better in February but It was still -20C several times and then in March it got to -22C yet again. Majority of April was below freezing. Apple and cherry trees bloomed three weeks later than usual. This winter was hell for people and sequoias alike.
One of the older trees completely died:
By middle May there were no traces of green.
The second and largest tree did not die completely but it was severely decimated except for a few branches at the very bottom:
Number 220 will most likely become another bush-like sequoia.
All "giant sequoias bushes" that were covered with styrofoam survived without any visible problems. They are beginning to produce new shoots that perhaps will lead to the new leads. However, they all look like more or less like #220 above.
Several Hazel Smiths that were purchased in December 2018 are sitting in pots:
An experiment I would like to conduct for next winter is to build a large styrofoam cone that would cover larger trees.
There were total of about 20 GS outside for the past winter. Two normal trees, about 2-3ft tall, two bush-like survivors from previous winters and the rest all very small seedlings up to 8-9 inches tall. All seedlings and the two “bushes” were kept under styrofoam thermal cones. The two real trees had a burlap layer outside of the wire fence and another layer of highly reflective plastic. There was a decent amount snow this past winter with about 2/3rd of the tree height covered by it by the middle of the winter.
This winter was exceptionally cold and long. Temperatures dipped to -30F (-34C). With the windchill temperatures were reported to be below -50F (-45C). Average minimal temperature for January 2019 was an incredible -20F (-29C). This means not only that it got extremely cold several times, it stayed cold all January.
It got a little better in February but It was still -20C several times and then in March it got to -22C yet again. Majority of April was below freezing. Apple and cherry trees bloomed three weeks later than usual. This winter was hell for people and sequoias alike.
One of the older trees completely died:
The second and largest tree did not die completely but it was severely decimated except for a few branches at the very bottom:
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| #220 after 2019 winter |
All "giant sequoias bushes" that were covered with styrofoam survived without any visible problems. They are beginning to produce new shoots that perhaps will lead to the new leads. However, they all look like more or less like #220 above.
Several Hazel Smiths that were purchased in December 2018 are sitting in pots:
An experiment I would like to conduct for next winter is to build a large styrofoam cone that would cover larger trees.
