Nice pictures, we are having an early spring here in Pa too. I just got back from a week in Florida and was surprised I had to cut grass. Trees are getting leaves already.

as to your plants ... considering there are a bunch of maples.. SUPERB!!!!!

thanks for taking the time to load all the pix for us ... i have seemed to lost the will to do such ...

ken

Ken,
Glad you enjoyed them. There were ONLY two maples. There were more Redbuds than that. I'm going to try to go back to the museum grounds this weekend as I think the native dogwoods should be near peak then. I also learned this morning that between the museum grounds, and the adjacent Compton's gardens have 5 state champion trees between them. Maybe even and oak or two. :-)

Arktrees

First pic...damn, nice flower set! My eastern redbud is about to break bud.

The 30 mph winds whipped off most the flowers off my 'Jane' magnolia...the only flowering plant for me right now.

Cornus mas finished up this past week. Color is a bit dull with the overcast. Glows in the sun.

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Arktrees - regarding your Acer palmatum 'Mikawa yatsubusa' - what's the red on the tips of the stems -samaras. Sure makes for a colorful spring display.

Marshall

Marshall,
Those actually originate from the buds themselves. They cover the immature leaves while the buds are extending, then the leaves split them open and emerge. I see them as the last line of protection of the small leaves from frost/freezing temps. The leaves are much more cold resistant while still covered by them. I will see if I can get a picture to more clearly show what I'm trying to say. Just the same, the flowers, and samaras are red, they just aren't in those photos.

Arktrees

Some beautiful trees here Arktrees, some of my favorites. Thought I would post one of mine that is in bloom now.
Cher

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Malus Purple Prince

A couple of visitors on a Harvest Gold crabapple this afternoon:

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-03-28

Ken, be patient with the maple stuff first. There will be something for you down the page a bit. :-)

whaas, that's a nice tree. We saw on in a local park at the end of Feb. that made our Redbud look weak on the flower front. Had great exfoliating bark too. Had there been good fall color, I'm sure the S.O. would have insisted we have one. But the lack of good fall color pretty much killed it for her.

cher, NICE! But I'm sorry, I can't show that pic to my S.O., as the last time I showed her a nice crabapple, when shipped it from Oregon and the shipping was significantly more than the freaking tree, and it wasn't cheap. I'm not making that mistake again. ;-)

John, good pic. Been seeing more butterflies. Hope a cold snap doesn't get them. Wish we hadn't had to remove our HG, those are some neat trees. Though I will say she seems to like the Golden Raindrops allot. Still doesn't have the same golden bark. Keep the pics coming.

Marshall,
Sorry I didn't get the pics posted last night. I was able to get a couple pictures where I think you can see what I was talking about. The first shows the covers with the shoots extending out of them. The second shows the flowers and beginnings of samaras. BTW, for those further north, Acer palmatum 'Mikawa yatsubusa' is considered a dwarf. If you are willing to protect it in late freezes (easier to do since it's smaller), and site it in a spot protected from wind, then you can probable have it much further north. This one was hit with -25F and -13F, as well as several other sub-zero nights in Jan-Feb 2011. It had some tip die back, but survived easily.

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This is Acer palmatum 'Kagiri Nishiki'. Hang on Ken, this is the last of the Maple stuff. Don't you have a couple variegated Maples? If so, this one might interest you.

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Now Ken, it's your turn.

Quercus texana - Nuttall Oak

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This is the only Scarlet Oak seedling that I raised from acorn last year that I kept.

Quercus coccinea - Scarlet Oak
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Lets finish up today with our Ginkgo.

Ginkgo biloba - Princeton Sentry

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Hope you all enjoyed. Thanks to all that have added their own photos.

Arktrees

How much did your scarlet oak grow in 1 season?

jq,
This particular one grew about 3' from acorn last year. Acorns were collected from a tree on the University of Arkansas campus identified as Q. coccinea. I checked morphology of leaves, buds, and acorns before I began stratification of the acorns, and everything matched. I can not rule out hybridization with so many other red oaks that are in the area. However, all seedlings grew in the same general manner, implying some consistency in genetics, somewhat supporting that they are species.

Below is the same seedling October 2011.

Arktrees

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Amazing! Did you do anything special? I'm assuming you didn't leave it in the front yard in full sun. The reason I ask is I have the same tree that has been growing in my family's back yard for 3 years and just recently attained the same height yours is right now.

I currently have a Northern Red Oak that I'm growing in a pot. I can only hope I get 3' of growth from it in 1 season!

jq,
Below is what I wrote last fall. One thing I would add is that they were in an area that received approximately 60-65% possible sunlight. Pots were in among other pots, and so not exposed to direct sun. Also, seedlings were interspersed with other small trees of varying size, so that I am sure they sensed the competition for light which may have played a role in the unexpected amount of growth. However if they "felt" too much competition, I would not expect them to branch like this one did. However, it was certainly a part of the environment.

"I used the 6" pots linked below to plant them into. Those are actually hydroponic pots, but they worked just fine. The potting media was Farfard 52 mix IIRC. Acorns were planted in early April after cold stratification in my frig in moist perilite. Pots were place atop the bare ground and kept moist, but watered daily once the seedlings emerged. Fertilizer was Osmocote Plus, as it has all the major and micro nutrients. Due to daily watering, a few pellets were applied to each pot every 3-4 weeks to maintain nutrient levels. Each seedling pushed multiple flushes of growth over the growing season. In August due to extreme heat and drought, I placed each pots inside a 1 gallon pot to slow evaporation a bit. At that time the roots rapidly grow out the sides of the pots they had been in all summer. So the effect was that the seedlings had been air pruned all summer, had no dominant tap root, and had a dense root system at the time of going into the ground, and are up to three feet tall."

Anything I did not cover?

Arktrees

Here is a link that might be useful: Net Pots

First some pics of one of Arktree's scarlet oaks in my yard. It has already extended 7" with no signs of stopping:

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-03-31

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-03-31

And now the some spring stuff:

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-03-31

wow, nice. Is there anything special about the redbuds? Is that the difference between an oklahoma and the reg eastern? If so I might have to look one up. I guess all my trips to and from Walmart are paying off somewhere. Great pictures.

btw I could never take such good care of any potted plant. Those oaks look really well grown.

Arktrees, do you think maybe Ken would go for this maple? ;)

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Lou, I think Ken has probable checked out of this thread, so we may never know. However, even Ken has a choice few maples. I have seen him post pictures of them before, so if there a chance that any more would catch his eye, that Shantung has probable the best chance possible. That certainly is a beautiful plant.

John, I am VERY happy to see that my babies are doing so well. Honestly, it is doing better than the one I kept. The leaves have not visibly developed further than the picture I posted. Guess time will tell. So what is the second picture of? Is that the "Grace" Smoketree as well? Sure is looking nice there. I will post a pic of ours once it begins to develop that nice aqua color. I also have to say I'm developing an increasing appreciation of Fothergilla. Those flowers are more persistent than I thought, then you got the crazy fall color as well. Nice.

kato, The Oklahoma Redbud was discovered in the Arbuckle Mountains in south central Oklahoma. Some classify it as a separate species, so as part of the eastern Redbud species, and some as a population of a separate Texas and SW US species. As far as we are concerned the differences multiple characteristics. First is the magenta purple flowers that you see above. This color varies somewhat depending upon source. I have seen some that were basically a grape purple, and I wanted one BADDDDDD. LOL The second trait is they have thick shiny waxy leaves. This IMHO makes them very attractive during the summer months. These trees are very drought adapted. With the waxy coating playing a role in that. They are also considered to be smaller than the Eastern Redbud. Most listings have it somewhere around 15' tall and wide. Smaller size is also a common drought adaptation. Lastly, it's not a cold tolerant. Most places list it at something like 6b (check me), but this one made it through -13F and -25F in Feb 2011. Though all flower buds were destroyed, and it did not flower to speak of last year. OH, and I know what you mean about Wal Mart. They get a big chunk of my cash flow as well.

I have more pictures to post that I took at the Crystal Bridges Museum grounds, and from the adjacent Compton Gardens. I haven't been able to process them for upload as of yet. I will try to get these done over the next couple days.

Arktrees

Yes, the last two pics are 'Grace'. I was concerned with how it would do since it was THE MOST POT-BOUND PLANT I HAVE EVER SEEN when I planted it last fall. So far so good. I hear they are pretty tough plants... we'll see.

Each fothergilla flower lasts a little over two weeks for me. This makes the blooming period almost a month as the flowers develop and open over a period of a week and half to two weeks for me. BUT the one you have GOT to see is 'Blue Shadow'. Worth every penny. Just gorgeous every time I look at it. And no, I don't have any pics, unfortunately.

John

Snapped a couple pics this morning with some rain left on the leaves. Most of the other green in the pics are lilies. Although some darn bermuda grass woke up later than I anticipated. I thought I got it all with roundup when I sprayed 2 weeks ago and again this weekend.

Doesn't the RED mulch provide great contrast?... ;-)... lol

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-04-04

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By jp_42_82 at 2012-04-04

To think, I didn't even harass you for pics of the Blue Shadow. ;-) That is a GOOD LOOKING plant. Do you have it in full sun? I'll be showing this to my S.O.. She LOVES the Aqua color of the American Smoketree, and I bet she will really like this as well. Thanks for sharing John.

Arktrees

Even though it looks nice in the pics, it must be seen in person to appreciate fully. Your SO will almost certainly like if not love it! It is indeed full sun getting direct light from about 30 minutes after sunrise to around 2-3pm. So right around 7-8 hours. The leaves emerge green and have to mature and get some sun before taking on blue hues. It is much bluer than my two smoketrees which are closer to lime green with just a hint of blue color.

John

ps - I had to post pics. It just would be unfair to leave everyone hanging, right?

I know its not spring or tree related, just jumping on the Blue Shadow Fothergilla band wagon. Definitely one of my top 10 shrubs.

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This spring, my dogwood did not wake up :( But the rest of my yard has had a great start! But this year there was not much 'winter' in Savannah GA more like a long fall, so a few of my plants didn't even go dormant. The woods behind my house are filled with green, the honeysuckle is in full bloom on all the trees. It is beautiful.

Here is a link to my post. I am not a a novice with gardening ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring in my bit of the south

This was the yards of me and my neighbor a few weeks ago. Everything just seemed to bloom at once.

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Arktrees, I am so impressed with the maples you displayed above, I particularly love both the Acer palmatum 'Mikawa yatsubusa' and the Acer palmatum 'Kagiri Nishiki'. You did mention that the Mikawa yatsubusa could possibly be grown in the north, how about the Kagiri Nishiki? Are either one of these species available in zone 5? I am so impressed with the fact that you grew these yourself.

Great photos!
Linda

Linda,
I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was not suggesting that these selections of Japanese maple were more cold tolerant. What I was suggesting was that "dwarf" meaning, naturally small selections could possible be planted in "protected" locations further north. Since they are small, it would be easier to find a suitable location and easier to protect them from late cold due to physical size along. Also there is the possibility of keeping a dwarf in a moveable pot. Moving the pot to a protected garage or something during the dormant period. Hope I have done a better job of conveying my thinking this time around.

Sorry for the delay on the update. Just been short on time this week. However I did make it back to the museum to catch some of the photo worthy items. I also made it to the adjacent Compton's Gardens. Hope you continue to enjoy the photos. And I Ken, I don't think there are ANY maples this time. ;-)

Arktrees

First up is a very large Sycamore. Not the relative size of the trunk compared to the car. Also note the crossing limbs that fused together (second branch up on the left side).

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Nearby, is also a very large Oak. It was not leafed out yet, so can't be certain of the species. But there are many very large Oaks on the museum grounds.

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Not an Oak, but pretty.

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Native Honeysuckle
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Wildfire Blackgum

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Various views from around the trails.

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Intertwined trunks.

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I think this is the largest Serviceberry that I have seen.

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Here we have the ultra rare, and as far as I know endemic Bicycle Tree Arborous diroundous.

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The remaining pictures for today are from Compton's Garden.

State Champion Yellowwood Tree. Could get it all in a picture. Was much too crowded, and the tree too large.

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The front of the larger of these two trees is another large Yellowwood. Going to try to catch it in flower.

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This Black Cheri was probable 65' tall and a 30" caliper trunk. I didn't know that they could make it that long.

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Ken, this next one is for you. This is a very large White Oak. Quercus alba. Tree was enormous, with BIG GNARLY roots all over the place. Look at how small the ID tag in comparison to the trunk. These pictures just don't convey the true size. Somehow, I don't think your Hosta would make it under this Oak.

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Dwarf crested Iris.

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Other pics.

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Arktrees, thank you but most likely it was me misunderstanding, than it was you conveying your thinking, after all, everyone else understood your meaning just fine. Me, I still have quite a bit to learn about trees.

Linda

Couple late bloomers considering. Figured I get the pics before they get spoiled with the winds and then three freezes coming up this week again, yay! That puts the freezes (temps 32 or lower) in double digits for the month of April so far.

Eastern Redbud (Columbus, WI strain)
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Coralburst Crabapple (one of my favorite crabapples)
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Our two Shellbark Hickory saplings are sprouting their leaves. It's amazing to see the floral characteristics of the bud opening. The pink/green shading to the leaves, bud scales and rachis are quite dramatic.