Crazy Norway

I was not crazy last week when I said that it felt like Norway Spruce grew "over winter". It indeed is growing fast. It appears that this past winter was not cold enough to put it into too much hibernation. As soon as temperatures climbed above freezing and in fact climbed into mid 60s and even went into lower 70s one week it started growing.

Norway spruce, 3 years old. Note 2" growth on top due to extremely warm winter and spring so far. March 27, 2016

I see growth on all eight trees ranging from 0.5" to 2". Here are the actual temperatures for February and March 2016:

There were two warm spells by the end of February where the temperature stayed above freezing day and night. Then starting second week of March there were some incredibly warm days where temperature was in lower seventies and night temperatures were in the fifties. That, I believe, led to Norway spruce waking up and starting to grow. 

Today I opened all sequoias for direct sun exposure. This Spring has come fast and there are no signs of abating. 

Most of the sequoia trees have significant purpling. Some that were under foam cones are completely green. Next week I will do a complete snapshot of the 2016 growing season starting point with measurements.

Signs of new Spring

The winter is almost over. Despite a strong snow "storm" yesterday it's getting definitely feel like Spring. It was in the 50s and even some days in 60s over last 4weeks. It got a bit cooler now with 40s during days and dropping to just below freezing 29-30F at night.

Overall, this winter was very mild. Earlier predictions of above average temperatures turned out to match well with reality. There were two or three days in January of extreme cold to -10F (-23C), but compared to normal Iowa winters these cold spells were very short and not all that cold. The lowest temperature in February was +1F (-17C), which was also unusually warm.

Because of this warm winter and additional protection sequoias outside are doing significantly better than after previous winter.

Main patch after winter 2015-16. March 20, 2016

Although some brown can be seen on the larger sequoias protected with the wire mesh and burlap, sequoias that were under the foam cones look totally green. This gave me the idea that perhaps I over-protected with the foam. It is quite possible that these green ones will shoot dramatically up this growing season and will suffer from lack of water next winter. One thing about growing in Iowa is slow and steady wins the race.

The worst looking sequoia so far is the permanently planted #38. It shows a lot of light brown needles on the lower branches. Surprisingly the top looks just a bit purple but overall healthy. Not a major concern for survival at this point but definitely will lose middle section branches.

#38 March 20, 2016

The story is similar with #31. It shows some brown needles in the middle section but not as wide-spread as #38.

#31 March 20, 2016

The least affected semi-open sequoia was #33. Just like with #31 and #38 it had top completely opened all winter long. It shows uniform purpling throughout the volume and no brown:

#33 March 20, 2016

By far least affected and least protected were these samples:

Norway Spruce March 20, 2016

These are of course not sequoias but Norway Spruce that I bought from Richard Horak last fall. I am planning to use them to protect sequoias at the new location and also if this entire sequoia project goes to hell at least I will have some green conifers. I can swear these spruce grew over winter if this is at all possible. There is absolutely no damage.

The work on the new land purchased for this sequoia project re-started this week. I am clearing a path in the woods.

Sequoia Farm, March 20, 2016

Finally, a few pictures from the basement green house. First one is the new winter babies: October, December, February and March batches:

Winter 2015-16 baby sequoias. March 20, 2016

These are California sequoias. I think it's quite pointless to expect anything from these. They grew under the fluorescent lights over winter but their root systems are minuscule for the type of green above ground. I suspect they will start dropping like flies over summer and most likely be finished off by next winter.

California sequoias, March 20, 2016

There are also assorted samples from the "diversity project" in the basement that I will cover some other time. However, one such species did miraculously well over this winter. This is the Thuja Plicata that we brought from Washington State Olympic Park last August:

Thuja Plicata, giant green plant in the middle. March 20, 2016

For comparison, here is a picture of when Dave at Matt Albright Native Plant Center gave it to me in August of 2015:

Thuja Plicata August 2015

Note, that the plant was about the size of the label. The original label is present in both pictures for comparison.  Over winter months it quadrupled if not more. It keeps growing extraordinarily fast. I can not even imagine what it will be by the end of this growing season.

Winter activities

With the outside sequoias dormant for the next few months it is time to focus on in-door activities. Before that, a short update on current winter conditions. After a few inches of snow and temperature dipping into teens Fahrenheit, the weather bounced up to above freezing. It has been steady about 27-32 at night and 40-50 during the day for close to two weeks now. The forecast calls for 38-55F next week. This is quite warm for second week of December. In general this is what I found about longer term outlook for USA this winter:

Dec-Feb 2015-16 Outlook.

If this pattern holds then sequoias outside should feel quite comfortable.

With sun getting lower and lower every day, here is a flurry of activities inside:

Sequoia nursery Dec 2015

The picture above shows diversification of the species in my basement. Most of the seedlings live in unprotected containers while very young sequoias that undergo germination in small plastic containers are kept inside a cage impervious to mice.

From left to right in the room:

Norway Spruce, Blue spruce and one Doug-fir. Dec 2015

Norway Spruce, Blue spruce and one Doug-fir: all seedlings are about 2 months old. Doug-fir is by far the biggest species at the similar age.

Thuia plicata, Meyer's spruce, Fraser Fir, Bold Cypress, Giant Sequoia and Ponderosa Pine. Dec 2015

A great variety of species in these four-gallon containers. The Thuia plicata sample was brought from the Olympic National Park trip last August. It grew substantially since then. Bold Cypress is from my neighbor Richard Horak who gave them to me after his two 30 year old trees seeded them without human help last Spring. I keep one under the lights and 5 more are in cold storage in the garage. The sequoia on this patch is from the 200-range seedling from the Fall of 2013, making it two year old about now. It is apparently one of the less successful ones from that crop but it remains in good health. Ponderosa Pine that arrived via mail did not fare well. Out of 9 samples only 3 are currently surviving. This is one of them. I built a small chicken-wire cage to keep it somewhat straight. All samples of both Fraser Fir and Meyer's spruce received from the same source as Ponderosa are doing fine. Two of each were planted in these 4-gallon containers.

Fraser Fir, Meyer's Spruce and Ponderosa Pine. Dec 2015

These are more of the same, showing some surviving Ponderosa and a few ones on the way out. Fraser Fir in these quart size containers are doing very well with a bright green bunches of needles appearing in the last 3-4 weeks. Meyer's spruce so far is showing no signs of getting worse but at the same time very little is happening. Only perhaps on two I can see some new needles growing on the top but nowhere nearly in the same spectacular fashion as Fraser is doing.

Giant sequoia, Meyer's Spruce, Sitka Spruce and Norway Spruce. Dec 2015

These are 10 mail ordered sequoias, 2-3 surviving Sitka and one random Norway Spruce (will consolidate later). All sequoias are doing fine with no signs of change since the order in August 2015. No change is great in my mind. They need to survive till next Spring.

Blue Spruce. Dec 2015

Here is the remainder of Blue Spruce. For some reason all Blue Spruce seedlings appear deformed. Their stems are all crooked and near the ground. I was going to call them dead for many weeks but they remain to grow albeit in this strange form.

Giant sequoia, White Pine, Western Hemlock and Doug-fir. Dec 2015

This is the main germination pool hiding inside mice resistant cage. About 80 six-inch containers started with 3 seeds each. 13 green seedlings are from the older patch that was devastated by a mouse. The rest were re-seeded three weeks ago. Surprisingly few (3) have germinated so far and those that did do not appear to have bright purple loop characteristic for healthy seedlings. They look pale brown and have not managed to come close to shedding the casings.

One (of 100) surviving Western Hemlock is still doing okay but not spectacular. Three White Pines also managed to survive. For one reason or another white pine has failed to establish so far. Finally, Doug-fir after long hibernation started to make significant gains. Some samples exhibit similar condition to what I described above about Blue Spruce with crooked stems but four, including three in this picture have taken off. From the original expansion program started in August, these are the tallest species.

Norway Spruce, Pacific Silver Fir (Abies amabilis), Subalpine Fir (Abies Lasiocarpa) and Western Hemlock.

A few more Norway spruce seedlings, all doing poorly but at least not dead yet. Stems remain thin, needles are dark green and also somewhat thin.

Finally, three sets of newly planted seeds for germination. All these were kept in a fridge at 0C for 3 months. Silver fir fared worst of all species with zero surviving out of 100. Western Hemlock did also poorly with only one surviving out of 100. This is another try with about 20 seeds, 3 per container. For Subalpine Fir this is its first try. 

First snow of 2016 winter

First snow has fallen in Iowa.

About 6 inches fell last night. The snow is fluffy but wet. It completed the wire mesh structures very nicely around sequoias.

Larger sequoias had some snow falling inside the protective fence:

Preparations for the winter 2015-2016

With the growing season over it's time to get ready for the cold Iowa winter.

Slightly more seedlings will spend the winter outside than the last winter. Most of them will enter this winter much stronger than in 2014-15. Out of twenty five seedlings, eighteen will see their second test by cold. It is pretty remarkable that out of twenty in 2014-15, there were so many survivors.

The last winter was pretty regular for an Iowa winter. Slightly higher temperatures for most of the winter but with  a very cold February that pushed the winter overall below normal.  Slightly less snow than normal fell last winter but the big snow storm coincided with the deep freeze in February, which helped with the tree protection.

The 2015-16 winter outlook is dominated by strong El Nino predicting more snow and above average temperatures late Fall and at least early winter. Later winter may see some cold spells. Sounds like a repeat of last winter but with more snow.

Last year the seedlings were all small enough to be buried either completely or to 3/4 of the height in snow. Some of the taller ones like #15 and #34 got severely damaged. #15 is a remarkable survivor that bounced back from the loss of the main trunk. #34 did not bounce back as strong but (with the main trunk surviving) added just 45% (9") during this growing season.  It's a far cry from the snow-covered #33 that tripled in size from May through October of 2015 from 10" to 32".

The biggest sequoia threat is windburn. To fight the windburn menace all sequoias will be protected with dual defense lines. The first one starts on the bottom with a heavy dose of mulch added around each tree with a diameter of at least 3 feet across. Older and bigger trees will get as much as 6 feet across of 6-8" of mulch. The second and most drastic line is a fence around each tree. The bigger trees are getting a cone shaped teepee made out of wire with a layer of burlap on the outside.

I do feel like I am over protecting the trees especially given the moderate winter outlook. To that effect I am leaving three largest trees somewhat exposed to the elements by making a cylinder wind breaker rather than making a complete cover.

 The smaller trees will be getting plant protector foam buckets:

It was devastating to see a beautiful 9-feet tall sequoia in Iowa being destroyed by the 2013-14 winter in Fairfield. I believe that Hardy Jim over-protected his sequoia in the first two winters. Once it became not feasible to protect it suffered a terrible blow from an especially severe winter. It might have been just the wrong sequence of unfortunate events or otherwise an incredibly great tree may still be living in Iowa.

Update on seed germinations. All Giant Sequoias died. Probable culprits include early exposure to hard sun followed by over-watering and adding liquid fertilizer for the last three surviving samples. All had damage of the stem near the ground that turned black and withered. A batch of 50 new sequoias is started, unstratified. The glass container with plastic lid was treated with Clorox to eliminate hostile agents prior to placing paper filter with seeds.

Blue spruce seedlings continue to be green but look thin and unhealthy. Doug-fir seedlings are going very strong. A mouse destroyed half of the white pine patch, the rest are not getting from casings yet. Sitka spruce doing fairly well for the surging samples. They are getting stronger but the rate was somewhat low in 10-15% range. Western hemlock has only 2 pretty weak seedlings remaining. Everything else is dead in the germinated from seeds crop.

And finally, a remarkable find: Arid Arborist is trying a similar project in Indiana!

End of 2015 growing season

And the wrap up for the growing this year.

The table:

And all tracked tree mugshots: (pictures from last weekend)

#33:

#31:

#34:

#38:

#104:

#72:

#63:

#15:

#118:

#24:

#39:

#71:

#112:

#215:

#213:

#212:

#214:

#65:

#221:

#208:

#207:

#222:

#219:

#217:

#220: