hey hippie ...

we often say ... snow is a great insulator ... so it doesnt surprise me ... anything is possible ... under such ....

though retained.. time will tell if they are in fact viable ...

up here in snow land .... i sometimes think of ground freeze as a time of suspended animation ...

i think winter roared in rather fast last fall ... perhaps the plant didnt have time to shed the leaves properly.. and they were held in suspended animation under the snow blanket ...

i wouldnt be surprised that as it warms.. the leaves just dry out.. and fall off.. like they were supposed to ...

late retention of leaves.. means lack of proper fall hardening off ... which MIGHT be caused by too much fert ... instead of slowing down in fall... they just keep growing until winter makes them stop ...

thats all the cliches i can think of right now ... lol ...

ken

Hi Ken,

Wow, you were right. It has warmed up quite a bit here in the last couple weeks from lows in the teens two weeks ago to highs now in the 70's. All of our snow melted during this period. The leaves fell off of the "tree" (2 inch high twig). I never did fertilize the tree, but I did put a lot of manure and mulch around it after I planted it.

The tree must have had to spring some new roots in the late summer because when I pulled it out of the ground, it was dislodged from the the nut/seed that was providing most of its nutrients. I suppose this is why people recommend transplanting trees in the early spring or fall, not mid to late summer.

I now wonder if the tree will sprout new growth later this spring, or if I ruined its chance of survival.

Not totally unusual. In my experience, it seems that first-year tree seedlings don't always have quite as much ability to detect when it's time to go dormant.

e.g. .... many oak hold their leaves... until the bud under.. starts to expand and breaks the bond ...

that or a magnificent spring wind storm.. lol ..

this horrible winter.. many of my 'evergreen' type shrubs ... and a lot of conifers... have browned leaves like this ... the future is all int he buds.. and those all look pretty good right now ... but .. just like you.. all i can do is wait and see ...

thx for reporting back.. i was losing sleep over this.. in case i was wrong.. NOT!!... lol

ken

True about oaks, Ken, but while they retain DEAD leaves, I think the OP was implying this tree retained GREEN leaves.

Some of our oaks have retained green leaves over winter.
Have seen live oak and bur oak leaves turn red. Refer to this as fawn spots. This behaviour willdisappear in a yr or so.

Hippie,

Side note-do not water every day. Roots need air as well as water. If the ground is constantly wet, there is no air available. Let soil dry out a bit and then water well.

Linda

I've seen seedling black cherries in New Jersey retain their foliage the first year. Usually they don't the second year.

Hey, Hippie,

Young seedlings have a tendency not to abscise "on time". Maybe for several years of their youth. Dunno why. Could be their quest for youthful freedom from adult trees' genetic dictation that "You have to shed your leaves!" (Ain't happenin', establishment! Far out, out'a sight!). Been there, done that. Personally, I never abscised.

Seriously, this pic is of a 4-5 year old northern red oak in the neighbor's yard, undoubtedly a seedling from my yard's red oak as there are no other red oaks in the neighborhood. I have several red oak seedlings in the yard that this year also held their leaves over the winter, but the "momma" defoliates every year.

Maybe they don't abscise because as young trees they are still trying to grow when the heavy frost hits and the abscission layer doesn't have a chance to form?

I've seen this a billion times - eventually the trees, not just oaks, begin to abscise like all the others and get nekked in the fall...wait - wasn't that something that youth used to do, hippie? LOL

The pic.

You have more green in the background than I do in Maryland right now, hortster.

Although it has been, until this past week, a very cold spring here.

Yep, typical spring here in KS. Redbuds and pears in bloom, flowering crabs almost, etc. And, especially since I cleaned out my perennial garden yesterday, the forecast is for 28-29ð tomorrow night. Geez. Maybe it will zap some of the billions of maple samaras as well...

I think the OP was implying this tree retained GREEN leaves.

==>> sometimes.. winter hits so fast... the leaves do not turn from green ... not all trees.. very infrequently. etc...

i recall one fall.. where one day a ..yeah i know.. lol... a pear was green and happy.. hard 20's freeze that night.. next day.. every single green leaf.. fell off ...

and then a foot or two of snow.. and yes.. you might find green leaves months later.. when the snow bank melts ...

nothing is really impossible with ma nature.. she is a #itch ...

and after all that.. once spring and the heat rools thru.. they brown and fall off..

heck this year ... all my daphne.. lost all their leaves.. if they arent in fact dead.. time will tell.. and soon enough.. i will be having major brown needle loss on 50% or so various conifers... but the buds all look good ... time will tell

ken