Today the Unknown Pastilliere I bought from Jon in Nov. of 2007 has buds that are
beginning to break open. That is the earliest tree on the North, unheated side of my
hoop to break bud, others have green buds, but none breaking open. This tree was
planted in the ground in the fall of 2008.
It spent the winter of 2007 in a pot in about the same location it is now planted and early
in the Spring of 2008, it got badly damaged after having begun to leaf out. It was inside,
however outside temps. dropped very low, seems like it was in the teens at night for a
few days. It was the only tree damaged that time, but later another tree was damaged. I
have forgotten which one, it may be in my records somewhere. Both of those trees were
later moved to the heated side when another cold spell came. It took an extra helping of
fertilizer to get them both to start growing good. (Thanks to Jon for posting that
recommendation on the site). I will really be watching to see how UP fares this Spring
and if it will be possible to keep it alive without heat.
When the Unknown Pastillere was being prepared to plant in the ground, I found a small
sucker on it and removed it to a pot. It has spent the winter on the heated side and
opened the first leaf about ten days ago. I didn't recognize the importance of noting that
event at the time. No other trees on the heated side have open leaves yet but buds are a
little larger than on the unheated side and I need to double check to see if some are
showing breba figs. The UP is the smallest tree on the heated side.
Since finding the little one with an open leaf, I put a white board in the hoop and have
been using it to keep notes of what I do or what is happening so I don't forget things. It
is easy to quickly make notes even if my hands are dirty, which is most of the time. One
of these days I will get a notebook down there to transfer all the notes.
All the charts and notes from Steve in NJ have given me the incentive to do a little better
on records this year. Charts should make it easier to do records and keeping track of
susceptibility for frost damage will be just one catagory. Thanks, Steve. I wonder how
folks in the South with outdoor planted trees handle freak frost situations.